BT 921 
.S5 

Copy 1 



IMMORTALITY 

of the 

SOUL 



Class T3T^L_ 

Book t S 6 

Copyright N° 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



IMMORTALITY 



OF THE 

...SOUL... 

BY 

Michael T. Shcil 



Published by 
Michael T. Shcil 

Tipton, Indiana 



t. h. bos well 
Printing House 
Tipton, Ind. 



.55- 



Copyright by 

MICHAEL T, SHEIL 
1913 



©CU351257 

1U) f 



IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL. 

Preliminary Considerations. 

Infinite Space and Eternity are Manifest to the Mind. 

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio 
Than are dreampt of in your philosophy." 

As we peer into the starry depths on a clear night, when the 
noise of the day has softened into an impressive silence, undis- 
turbed, our vision penetrates to stars that retreat into mere 
points of light. The telescope is brought to our aid and there is 
revealed to us innumerable stars far beyond the reach of the 
naked eye. We have no means of determining the distance to 
which the stars may extend in space beyond those within the 
field of view of the most powerful telescope. We are in the 
habit of placing boundaries to all existences that come within 
the scope of our mental operations. We place limitations on all 
existences that come to occupy a place in space and time. We 
are aware of the limit of space, in which the human body is con- 
fined and the extent of its activities on earth. We are certain of 
the limited time allotted to the organized body in its career on 
earth. We are certain that the earth is limited in space and 
time. We do not doubt that there are regions in space, beyond 
the reach of the Sun's light. Although we can not escape the 
conscious conviction of the existences that are limited in space 
and duration, yet our minds are capable of apprehending that 
which does not admit of limitation. We can not get away from 
the truth that space is boundless and that we can form no con- 
ception of the limits of its extension. How are our minds 
brought in touch with infinite space? What is that entity which 
we call infinite space? We can not apply our knowledge of 
mathematics, science and philosophy in demonstrating or prov- 
ing infinite space. How then is the mind made certain that there 
is that which we caTl infinite space? We trace back the years of 
our lives and the entire line of our ancestors until we reach the 
first man. Our marvelous minds continue to revert still farther 
back into duration, through the ages that preceded man, until we 
enter into the thought of a duration that had no beginning. We 
are now convinced of the eternity that knows no beginning. 
What is time? What is eternity? We look about for the proof 
of this mysterious eternity, and we find that our mathematics, 
our science and our philosophy can not fathom it. How are we 
brought to a recognition of infinite space and the eternity of 
duration? These truths are revealed to us by that indwelling 
power of the mind that was created in us, and which we call 
intuition. 



II 



The Infinite Mind and Immortal Soul Become Apparent to Man. 

If we are convinced of infinite duration and infinite space, 
by that inborn capacity for acquiring certain truths which are 
beyond the reach of the search lights of mathematics, science 
and philosophy, may we not come to a recognition of the Infinite 
Mind by the intuition with which we are endowed? If we are 
unable to prove the immortality of the soul by the strict rules of 
mathematical demonstration, or by the limitations imposed on 
scientific investigation, or by the restrictions placed on philos- 
ophical processes of reasoning, we still possess, in our inner be- 
ing, the exalted endowment which provides us with an inner 
light or intuition by which we are enabled to recognize the 
immoriality of the soul, notwithstanding the heavy assaults 
made, in tha name of science, materialism and the evolution that 
makes a man out of a monkey, to destroy that immortality. In 
the essence of the soul, we discover the touch of a divine Power 
which imparted to the soul the life of immortality. There is an 
entity in the soul that is self luminous, and which casts a light 
into mysterious truths which can not be brought into view by 
the telescopes of science or philosophy. True science and true 
philosophy, not only do not controvert the immortal life of the 
soul, but furnish us with most encouraging evidence and con- 
clusive probabilities of the survival of the soul after the dissolu- 
tion of the body. Our existence is a selfevident fact, yet when 
we involve ourselves in discussing and explaining the mysteries 
involved in our being, we may find ourselves doubting our own 
being. We come into possession of certain departments of 
knowledge by scientific research and philosophical deductions. 
In our investigations of a plain, simple truth, clearly recognized 
by the common sense of mankind, we may employ the analytic 
and synthetic processess of reasoning until we are scientifically 
and philosophically convinced that a well established truth is 
nothing more than a myth. The soul gathers inspiring truths in 
traversing the marvelous departments of nature on the way to 
eternity. We awaken to a certainty of immortality as our souls 
come in touch with the Divinity that illuminates our thought 
movements and emotional flights, in the souls inspiring excurs- 
ions through God's marvelous creation. 

Impressions of the Passing Years are Revived. 

In my passage through this life, impressions were made upon 
my mind and now after many years, memory brings to me their 
exquisite charms. I pause to recall some of the impressions of 
the passing years, and to take a retrospect at this stage of my 
journey. 



Ill 



The longer I have lived, the more have I become impress- 
ed with the briefness of man's life in the flesh. I well remember 
the long, long thoughts of my childhood. Every day was full of 
significance, in my advance from my earliest conscious existence 
to the dawn of my manhood. The men who first came under 
my observation, in the neighborhood of my father's domicile, 
seemed to me like ancient patriarchs, among whom I could see 
the Goliahs of old. How full of meaning were the long Sundays! 
My active limbs and busy senses played in the sunshine, and 
caught food for thought in the mysteries of life, manifested in 
plant, insect, animal and bird To me, the fields and woods 
seemed full of inexhaustible treasures to enrich the fond long- 
ings of my heart. I rejoiced at the sweet return of Spring. The 
fresh, green blades of grass, the opening buds on bush and tree, 
the soft South-winds, the gentle rain and the bursting forth of 
the sun through the clouds, flooding the world with wonder- 
ful sunlight, filled my soul with thoughts of Spring time, never to 
be forgotten. Then came those long summer days when a profu- 
sion of foliage clothed the mystic groves and woodland, and the 
verdant fields were diversified with pastures, meadows and grow- 
iug crops. How delighted I was to walk and play on the well 
worn highway, along which comforting shade trees and pleasant 
fields stretched in enchanting view. On every side young ani- 
mals, and winged angels blessed grove and meadow. How I 
watched the summer clouds as they formed into banks, hills, 
mountains, great long banners, animals of huge size, or floated 
like gauzy curtains at dizzy heights in the sky. There was a 
charm in the play of sheet lightning, emblazoning the ominous 
clouds hanging over the horizon. There was grandeur and 
magesty in the black warrior clouds, as they advanced through a 
glare of chain lightning, accompanied by tremendous peals of 
awful thunder. The shortening days begin to merge Summer into 
Autumn, and I rejoice to behold the luscious fruits and golden 
harvests that enrich the mind for future feastings. The retreat- 
ing Autumn, amidst withering leaves, is followed by Winter, 
bringing its frosts and snows, its ice-covered ponds, its jingling 
sleigh bells and its swift, flying skates. As these wonderful 
scenes of earth pass through my conscous mind, I pause and 
question myself: What am I and what are those mysterious 
existences that so pleasantly traverse my appreciative mind? 
What power enables me to recall again those delightful ex- 
periences of departed years? 

I love the repitition of the seasons, with all their fond 
delights. But as my years advance, my eyes grow dim, my 
hearing dull, my step less elastic, my brain more difficult to 



IV 



traverse, my nerves less responsive to the behests of my spirit, 
and my whole bodily organism becoms a dull and decaying 
temple, in which my soul endeavors to hold communion with 
God's lovely creation. As I am carried beyond the borders of 
childlife, beyond the borders of youth, beyond the borders of 
courtship, beyond the borders of vigorous manhood, I pause to 
call back the charms, the beauties and the sublimities through 
which I passed on my journey through life. Again, as I awaken 
to the fond loves and emotions which I experienced in field, in 
grove, on riverbank, on shore of lake, alone or in fond compan- 
ionship, there comes to me, "Home, Sweet Home," entwined 
by a thousand affectionate garlands. The sources of happiness 
for my soul seem inexhaustible, and my spirit seems to possess 
a capacity, unlimited, for appropriating the abundance flowing 
from the great fountains of truth, wisdom, and happiness. As I 
rejoice in the royal privilege bestowed upon me, by being per- 
mitted to possess such wonderful capacity for happiness in this 
life, I ask myself the question: Are my joys, my delightful emo- 
tions, and my happiness limited to the small circle of this life? I 
proceed from what I know of this life, to unfold to my mind my 
immortal parts. 

Reading Between the Lines to Correct Errors and Imperfect Marshalling of 
the Reasons that Lead the Way to Immortality. 

In my joruney through life, I have been gathering the golden 
harvests that shall become a treasure in a future life. I desire 
immortality, and have longed to give my mind an assurance of a 
never ending life. Many of the thoughts that have carried me 
beyond the limits of this life into the mysteries of a future life, 
will be found as the reader passes over the pages of this book. I 
am aware that there may be some inconsistencies and a defective 
marshalling of arguments, in bringing to bear the prominent 
land-marks that point to man's immortality. The mystic shrines, 
through which we must pass to an assurance of immortal life, do 
not permit of perfection in outlines. Yet, if the thoughtful 
reader will catch the distant, but co-operating forces that con- 
centrate in pressing their way to a conviction in the soul's im- 
mortality, and will read between the lines the powerful reserves, 
ready to aid in the conflict to reach the goal, there will remain 
no avenue to escape, a conscious conviction in life everlasting — a 
life in which man shall live throughout endless ages, conscious 
of his existence, conscious of his personality, conscious of his 



V 



relations in his earthly life. He that would move in an atmos- 
phere, in which he realizes that he breathes the breath of 
immortality, must ascend to those mountain heights of spiritual- 
ity, where the soul receives inspiration of an absolute certainty 
of its conscious life that shall never perish. To discover in the 
soul its immortal attribute, we must admit evidence into our 
minds from every conceivable source. The pathways over 
which we must travel, to arrive at the goal of belief in immor- 
tality, cannot be confined to any one sphere of thought. Our 
minds will not be satisfied in traveling the mineral kingdom, the 
vegetable kingdom, the animal kingdom, and the entire domain 
of nature. No scientist, who confines his researches to matter, 
whether organic or inorganic, can lead us clearly into the light 
of immorfality. He may lead us along certain familiar paths 
that offer intimations of an everlasting life beyond the confines 
of this earthly existence. Separating ourselves from the scholar 
of physical science, as our guide, we enter the mind world and 
follow those guides who are familiar with the pathways of 
psychology. We travel the way of reason and logic until we 
find that the most profound mathematical demonstrations do not 
clear away our difficulty, and that the most scientific research does 
not overcome the obstacles in our pathway: But these paths of 
travel fill our minds with most important suggestions of immor- 
tality. We now find ourselves entering the sphere of affections, 
loves, and emotions. We advance to the pathway of an inner 
sense, and as we travel, we experience within ourselves an 
awakening of intuitions, inner emotions, and a love of the good, 
the true, and the beautiful. A divinity stirs within us and we 
feel the gentle touch of a divine Hand, leading us into the light 
of immortality. An illumination from above, makes clear our 
pathway, and our souls become more receptive to God's revela- 
tions. We have passed over the many dark passageways, and 
we begin to recognize the voice of God through His divine 
messengers. We recognize God incarnate, walking on earth, 
and we hear His voice revealing to man a continuous life beyond 
the grave. Our progress in the spiritual life, brings our hearts 
in touch with the great Heart of hearts, and in that touch 
atheism disappears and agnosticism vanishes, the heart melts in 
love for the great Father of all, heavenly emotions fill the soul, 
repentance for the wrongs we have committed, brings us to our 
knees, and we arise in greatitude to the Emancipator who has de- 
livered us from the shakles of despair, and in the clear light of 
heaven we exclaim, "My Lord and my God!" and there awak- 
ens in our souls a conscious assurance of immortality. 



VI 



The Ways, by which we Arrive at a Conviction in Immortality, Must be 
Kept in Mind When the Enemy Seeks to Destroy that Conviction. 

However secure we may find ourselves, at any port at which 
we may stop in this great voyage of life, ere long we are again 
tossed on dangerous and stormy seas. In our hurried march, on 
this mundane sphere, we become perplexed at the rapidity with 
which the elements of seeming destruction gather about us, just 
as we were growing confident that nothing lurked along the high- 
way to disturb our equaninity. While we sing our songs of joy, 
and rejoice in the splendor that attends our onward progress, we 
suddenly enter into the land of darkness, where we become afflict- 
ed with the plagues of pessimism, and we see the prowling forms 
of Atheism, Agnosticism and Nihilism. But as we persistently 
continue our march, the dawn of an auspicious day reveals to us, 
that these clouds of darkness, are but floating spectres which 
make occasional, nightly attacks to alarm the indifferent soul into 
action and vigilance. The bright sun of Optimism disperses the 
prowlers of darkness, and the soul glorifies in the light eternal 
which it learns to recognize. Looking back into the ages of 
man's career on earth, we see inspired processions of exalted 
and noble spirits, proudly bearing the banners of Hope and 
Faith in immortal life, while the frowning shades of Atheism, 
and Agnosticism, skulk away into exterior darkness. Progressive 
thoughts and inspiring ideals, rise in souls trusting in God, like 
stars ascending out of the slumbering earth, while the grim 
monsters of pessimism sink into the dead sea of dispair. A 
wrong interpretation of the things that affect the soul, gives rise 
to false assumptions as to the course in which the soul moves. 
As the soul is influenced by the varying conditions of the body, 
an assumption arises that what happens to the one, will happen 
to the other; that the life of the body is necessary to the life of 
the soul, and that the soul cannot survive the death of the body. 
This is an assumption which we find is not warranted, when 
once we distinguish how widely the effects produced on 
the body differ from the effects produced on the soul. 
The strokes and wounds inflicted on the body tend not to 
the destruction of the soul, but serve to impart a certain kind of 
knowledge to the soul. The soul becomes aware of the effects 
produced on it by certain intrusions made on the body, and 
acquires not only a knowledge of the physical encounters that 
produce pain but also elaborates that knowledge into science 
and philosophy by which causations are made known. 

Through the Feelings and Emotions, Man Rises to the Truths and Principles 
that Enter into Everlasting Life. 

Drowsiness, lassitude, ennui, stupor, dullness and pain, re- 
sulting from the various conditions of the body, are but the 
valleys through which the soul passes in its development for 



VII 



higher spheres. Sickness and disease are but the disturbances 
in the body that awaken the soul to the existence of laws, and 
serve as warnings, to the suffering soul snd its following beings, 
of the conseqnences which follow the violation of immutable 
laws. The mind of man is endowed with faculties of such far 
reaching capacity, as not only enable him to enter into a knowl- 
edge of the laws that affect either body or soul in the physical, 
the moral, intellectual or aesthetic worlds, but also enable him 
to bring himself under obedience to those laws, and to avoid the 
consequences of their violation. Pains, misery, aches, tortures, 
distress, are but the officers that arrest us in the errors of our 
ways and conduct us to the bar of justice and mercy. The 
feelings of justice, mercy, love and charity are the splendors of 
God's goodness, drawn from heaven and stored in men's hearts, 
to redeem the human race from the perdition growing out of the 
persistent violation of wise laws. The feelings and emotions of 
the soul, which point to immortality, are but the secret and 
sublime gravitation of the heart to faith, in response to the call 
of the Almighty. The emotions that lift man from earth to a 
higher life, are flashes of lightning issuing from the throne of 
Love and stored in human heats to reveal man's kinship to the 
Eternal Father, and the permanency of the soul's existence. 
The believer in God's goodness and mercy, enters upon the tides 
which set toward the Eternal, and he finds himself provided 
with the means to ride upon the calm or turbulent currents. 
Although the stormy nights threaten destruction, there are close 
at hand the angels of rescue with the life boats that will forever 
save the soul from perishing on the tides of eternity. Our feel- 
ings are the witnesses of the existence of earthly beings and 
their movoments in the whole outer world. The susceptibilities 
of the soul enter into the grand movement of the reason and 
understanding, and through these instrumentalities, we tread 
the ways of the universe, until our thoughts follow in unison 
with the Infinite Mind and open to ns the evelasting inheritance 
which we derive from our Creator. 

The Rational Soul Finds Itself in a Rational Universe. 

We are persuaded that a rational mind could not come in 
communion with an irrational universe, and that an irrational 
universe would drive a sane mind mad. Neither could an 
irrational mind harmonize with a rational uaiverse. We become 
further persuaded that the more the mind of man moves out 
into the order and operations of the grand systems in nature, 
the more apparent become the accord and harmony existing in 
the mind of man, in its rational relations with the universe. In 



VIII 



harmony with our reasoning minds, we classify and systematize 
the things in the universe that coincide with, and come in unison 
with, the miniature systems created in the soul when God 
breathed into man the breath of life. The soul of man follows 
the thought of God, reflected in the universe, and in the soul is 
revealed the image of its Creator. By means of the successive 
degrees and variations of pain, suffering, and every feeling and 
emotion elicted within the soul, in its experiences in the body, 
the reason and the understanding, under the direction of the 
will in the light of consciousness, are enabled to elaborate and 
work out the related existences that go to make up the various 
sciences. As we experience the exploits of the soul, in its mas- 
terly achievements in constructing and perfecting the sciences of 
Geology, Botany, Zoology, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, 
Astronomy and Psychology, and pass through the many suffer- 
ings, incident to earthly life, which the soul inures under the 
hardships which develop great characters, we still transcend all 
science, endure all adversities and tortures, until we reach the 
outstretched hand of a loving Father and awaken to a realization 
of our inheritance to everlasting life. As we explore the uni- 
verse of material worlds, new discoveries throw much light on 
what at one time seemed the unknowable. So, in this most im- 
portant of all explorations, the seeking of the true position and 
relation of the soul in the universe of imperishable worlds, we 
advance to a knowledge of truths concerning the SOUL and its 
immortality, which noted scientists have excluded from the 
domain of knowledge as the, "unknowable." 

Faith in Immortality is the Result of Profound Reasoning in the Subson- 

scious Mind. 

Experience and observation have furnished us with suffici- 
ent data for assuming that the mind, while engaged in the solu- 
tion of an important problem, continues the reasoning processes, 
even when consciousness is partially or wholly absent. We 
have, thus, what is known as the subconscious mind. In all ages, 
the human family has been deeply concerned in the future life, 
and has pursued a determined effort to search out the evidence 
and proofs of man's everlasting life. The people in common, as 
well as great minds, have earnestly sought a rational basis to 
support a belief in immortality. The mind ceasenly pursues the 
object of its search, in consciousness and out of consciousness. 
The reasoning processe s moving through the concious soul enter 
the sub-conscious mind. The reason, in its untiring search, 
passes into the deeper and less disturbed current of the sub- 
conscious mind, and Denetrates the secret of the actual existence 



1 X 



of the soul and its enduring nature. The result of this pro- 
gressive reasoning in the sub-conscious mind, finds its way into 
the common consciousness, and the immortality of the soul be- 
comes an establish faith, in the almost universal mind. The 
light of immortality becomes as real to the soul, as the sun light 
in the heavens, however much that light may elude our grasp. 

The Existence of Spiritualism, is Evidence of the Survival of the Soul After 
Death, Whether Actual Communication be Had 
With the Spirit or Not. 

There exists a national organization of men and women in 
the United States and in other nations, who claim to have com- 
munication, throngh certain mediums, with the spirits that have 
crossed the valley of death. Whether such communication ever 
occurs in any of the seances, is a matter of serious doubt in the 
great majority of minds. Yet one important fact we can not 
overlook. Aside from all the deceptions and frauds that may 
attend the efforts of the spiritualist, in seeking communication of 
thought with departed spirits, yet spiritualism would not exist, 
were it not for a fundamental truth recognized by the over- 
whelming majority of the human race. That important premise 
is, that there exists in man a soul which is conscious of itself, 
and thinks and reasons, whether in the body or out of the body. 
Spiritualism undertakes merely to bring into communication the 
spirits in the flesh with the disembodied spirits. With a mere 
reference to the evidence furnished by the reasoning of the sub- 
conscious mind, and certain phases of spiritualism which have 
important bearings on many minds in arriving at a belief in a 
future life, we shall devote our attention almost exclusively to 
other claims on immortality. In our present state, we, in a great 
measure, draw our conclusions by what appears to us through 
our five senses. We advance from what we term the known to 
the unknown. From this stand point we know what happens 
to the body after death. From all that we can perceive through 
the sense perceptions, the whole organism dissolves and its 
atoms become scattered to all quarters of the earth by flowing 
streams, currents of air and unseen forces. But not one atom is 
destroyed nor any energy lost. What then has happened in 
death? The atoms of the body and the physical energy, have 
merely been released. But our investigation is not limitfd to 
the body. Something else of vital importance has happened at 
death. There must have been something in the body, different 
from the matter of which it was composed. That something 
did not possess the attributes of the body, such as weight, 
divisibility and dissolution. 




X 



The Mission Field in which the Soul Prepares for Unending Life, is the 
Body in its Relation to Other Material Bodies. 

The great mission field in which the soul prepares and 
equips itself for the years of eternity, is a frail and perishable 
body, mysteriously related to a vast material universe. The soul 
acquires discipline and knowledge, as it advances in dominion 
over the "fishes of the sea, the fowls of the air, and the beasts, 
and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth 
upon the earth." But more particularly does the soul acquire 
discipline, knowledge and wisdom as it advances in dominion 
over the carnal body. The soul enters this world in a helpless 
body. As the thrength of the body increases, the latitude of the 
soul's activities is enlarged. Pains and penalties are inflicted 
on the soul, in the neglectful or wrongful use of the body and 
thereby knowledge and wisdom are acquired. The body as a 
mere instrument, of itself, under the guidance of the soul, is 
comparatively helpless and impotent to overcome the giant 
forces of nature. The reason and understanding of the soul 
overcome the apparently insurmountable obstacles. The mind 
directs and applies the capabilities of the body, in molding and 
shaping the materials and forces of nature, so as to acquire 
dominion over the obstructions to providing food, clothing, 
shelter and protection to the body. The great continents of the 
earth are separated by wide expanses of oceans. The eye of 
man can see but a very short distance over the surface of land 
and sea. His voice can be heard but a few yards away through 
the air. He can travel but a few miles until his footsteps become 
weary. His body is so small and weak, that he can carry an in- 
significant burden only a few steps when he must stop to rest. 
In fact, man is very helpless without the tools, implements and 
machines which his inventive mind designs and makes by the 
movements and application of the body. Man, in his primitive 
state, although possessing all the attributes of mind and body, 
which he now possesses, depended almost wholly on his power 
of body and the subjection of the beasts of the field for provid- 
ing himself with the necessaries of life and means of travel. The 
growing increase of population stimulates improved means of 
agriculture, manufacture, transportation and communication of 
thought. Steam and electricity were harnessed and made to 
perform the work of man and beast. Inventions and improve- 
ments in machinery have advanced to such a stage, that the 
giants of steam and electricity draw the passenger and freight 
car with marvelous speed over the vast plains, crossing great 
spans of bridges beneath which flow mighty rivers, passing 
through mountain passes and bringing into enraptured view, 
imposing mountain peaks and ranges. 

j 

I 



Man comes out of the depths of the continent and, in won- 
der, halts in the presence of the vast waters of the trackless 
ocean. He loves to look upon this great world of water and to 
listen to the ceaseless song of the waves. His eyes never weary 
in swimming over the boundless deep and his ears would ever 
listen to the rolling waters. 

"The sea! The sea! the open sea! 
The blue, the fresh, the ever free! 
Without a mark, without a bound, 
It runneth the earth's dark regions round." 

Far away the sky and ocean seem to meet. The sunbeams 
play on the crests of the waves, and dim in the distance the spir- 
its from above play with the nymphs of the sea. Filled with 
inspiration, in gazing upon the dark-blue ocean and in listening 
to its anthem of eternity, the soul of man thus addresses the 
personified ocean: 

"Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form 

Glasses itself in tempests; in all time, 

Calm or convulsed, — in breeze, or gale, or storm, 

Icing the pole, or in torrid climes, 

Dark-heaving, boundless, endless, sublime, 

The image of Eternity, — the throne 

Of the Invisible! Even from out thy slime 

The monsters of the deep are made; Each zone 

Obeys thee; thou goest forth, dread, fathomless, alone." 

The tiny organism of man stands on the shore of the vast, 
rolling ocean, physically helpless to venture upon the unknown 
deep, while the soul within this tiny form, reasons out the en- 
during principles and the profound problems of the relation- 
ships of the tiny, delicate organism, to the immense ocean, to 
the boundless atmosphere and to the titanic forces of nature. 
This soul extracts, from the mutable masses of earth, water, air 
and the world of matter, the unchanging principles, the eternal 
truths and the complex and infallible union of these principles 
and truths that enter into the mechanism c,f floats that will 
safely bear the diminutive bodies of the human family far out 
upon the bosom of the restless, dreadful ocean. Small boats, 
propelled by oar or sail are first launched. As the boats are 
enlarged and the sails expanded, the farther are the tiny organ- 
isms floated out upon the hazerdous sea. 



XII 



Soon the eye is greeted by white sails on inland waters and 
on the skirts of the ocean. Navigation progresses until the man, 
who stood on the European shore of the Atlantic Ocean, trium- 
phantly guides his ship to the American continent which slum- 
bered in the embrace of three great oceans. The progress of 
man's dominion over the sea was evidenced on the 19th day of 
June 1913, when the giant of the ocean, the Imperator, the larg- 
est steamer afloat, entered the port of New York with her 3450 
passengers, and her crew of 1180 persons. The mind of man, in 
its invisible, intellectual sphere, planned and formed out of the 
imperishable truths of mathematics and the enduring principles 
of physical seience, an unseen floating pyramid. This mind 
made use of the bodily organism in taking from the material 
world, the iron, the wood and all the essential materials of earth 
for materializing the pyramid of the mind. The mind directed 
and guided the hand in shaping and uniting together all of the 
separate material parts that went to make up this marvelous 
transport of the sea. Man planned and construced this mighty 
ship, which measures in length 919 feet, in width 98 feet, in 
depth 92 feet and has a draught of over 38 feet. For the safety 
of all persons on board, this floating city is provided with an 
inner hull divided into 36 water-tight compartments, and an 
equipment of two motor-boats and 83 life-boats. To propel this 
marvel of the sea, the intellect of man, operating in and through 
a physical organism, captured and harnessed the wild forces of 
nature and centered in the ponderous, inert mass, the power of 
62,000 horses which propelled the great nine-deck liner, with its 
cargo of humanity, with remarkable speed across the Atlantic 
Ocean from Hamburg to the port of New York. While man is 
gaining dominion over the wnole earth, and conquering every 
obstacle that impedes his travel over land and sea, yet he is 
aware that his work of dominion has been neglected in a very 
important field. While man has fortified himself against the 
giants and monsters of the world, he has discovered that secret, 
deadly enemies invade and destroy his bodily organism. The 
microscope has revealed the diminutive foes that devour 
the body or attack the vital organs. The reasoning power of 
the mind traces these enemies to their very hiding places, and 
the very cause of our many ailments are brought to light. 
Reasoning from what the human mind has accomplished, we are 
assured that man is capable of gaining dominion over the micro- 
scopic pests that/invade the body, and to reach that standard of 
living which rescues the human organism from its foes and re- 
moves the dark clouds which cast doubts on the soul's im- 
mortality. / 



XIII 



A Forecast of the Trend of Thought which Bears Us Onward to Our Im- 
mortal Life. 

In the following pages we shall inquire into the distinctions 
between body and soul, and present a substantial and rational 
basis for a belief in the never ending life of the soul. In explor- 
ing the human soul, the field is so vast and the standpoints of 
investigation so varied, that we can only hope to bring to mind 
some of the most striking arguments in support of immortality. 
Notwithstanding the incompleteness of the arguments which 
shall be adduced, the seeming inconsistencies which may appear, 
the inaccuracy of facts and the imperfection of language, in 
giving lucid and clear expression to certain thoughts, yet as the 
reader proceeds, he will gather wider ranges of view, and there 
will appear permanent land marks and towering mountain peaks 
in the realm of the soul, which will open to the mind, the clear 
and onward course leading to a certainty in the existence of the 
soul, as a separate entity apart from the body, endowed with 
consciousness, reason, understanding, volition and unending life. 
It will be made to appear that as the bee flies from flower to 
flower, extracting the nectar to store away in its hive, so the 
soul moves from object to object in the material world extract- 
ing from all forms in the earth and in the universe, ideals and 
truths which shall never perish, but which shall become an 
everlasting treasure to the soul, in that life where death is un- 
known. As the soul explores the great territory of truth, 
whether pertaining to things finite or infinite, it extracts and 
draws unto itself those truths and principles which will abide 
with it while the years of eternity roll; and in that home, where 
dwell the immortals, will be revealed why man was placed on 
earth to undergo the dreadful ordeals, through which he must 
pass in this earthly pilgrimage. While all the evidence and 
proofs, that go to establish the immortality of the soul, shall not 
appear in this discursive treatment of the subject, yet evidence 
sufficient to convice the mind of the reader, that he possesses an 
immortal soul, is evidence enough. The unbiased reader, whose 
mind is open and free to give due weight to the evidence that 
may be gleaned in following all the channels of thought leading 
up to the goal of Faith, as presented in this book, if not fully 
persuaded that he has an immortal soul, will, at least find rea- 
sons sufficient to awaken further investigation and to seriously 
challenge the premises and consistency of the arguments 
offered in denial of immortality. As the untrammeled mind 
passes over the pages of this book, and advances out of darkness 
into the open fields of light, of which mere suggestions are offer- 
ed on the printed pages, there will develop an irresistable gravi- 
tation to a belief in the soul's onward progress, after the mortal 



XIV 



body rests in the grave. A tide of thought and feeling will set 
in toward the Eternal, and there will come to the mind and heart 
a conviction that the earth is but a temporary home of the soul; 
that the planets upon which the eye has so inquiringly gazed are 
near neighbors of the earth, within the flight of souls released 
from the body; and that the starry depths contain inexhaustible 
treasures of God's kingdom that will afford the soul endless pro- 
gress and increasing happiness in the ceaseless roll of the years 
of eternity. In the treatment of this all interesting theme, I 
shall pursue the following general outline: 

First. We find ourselves in discordant elements and we 
watch the chaotic masses develop into a harmonious order of 
worlds. 

Second. In passing through the order and harmony, mani- 
fested in the universe, we receive assurance of the existence of a 
supreme Intelligence. 

Third. We revive our experiences in this life, to discover 
the capacities of our souls for happiness, and to seek a cause of 
the soul's longing for immortality. 

Fourth. We enter into philosophical discourses on the 
existence of the soul and the permanancy of its life. 

Fifth. We traverse the fields of nature to gather intima- 
tions of a future life. 

Sixth. We witness the death, burial and resurrection of 
Christ to demonstrate the possibility of the survival of the soul 
after the death of the body. 

Seventh. We wander from home, become lost in the wil- 
derness and seek out the lights which will direct our steps 
homeward. 

Eighth. We heedlessly stray into a wilderness of iniquity, 
are lost, but by seeking out and following the light of the moral 
virtues, we return to the home of our heavenly Father. 

Ninth. We test the character of Christ by his words and 
his deeds, and again return to the resurrection to bear witness 
to its crowning proof of immortality. 

Tenth. We look through the telescope at other real worlds, 
developing into fitting abodes for progressive souls. 

Eleventh. We keep continuously in mind our Creator, and 
become impressed with the truths and conduct of life which 
must be constantly kept in mind to acquire and sustain Faith 
in immortality. 



IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL 

Looking into the Void of Non-existence. 



HERE was a time when oblivion and darkness reigned 



■X where now we witness the light of day. Let us endeavor 
to venture into this wilderness of nothingness and vast non- 
existence. We peer into the great vacancy of space without an 
object appearing in the endless void. Weary of our long gaze 
into the monotonous vacuity, a wandering cloud or nebulous 
form breaks the lonely, empty space. Other shapeless, nebalar 
forms of matter float in the darkness, invisible to our searching 
eyes. A glimmer of light gives us intimation of great bodies of 
nebulous matter aimlessly floating through what at first seemed 
an endless void. All is disorder and confusion among the 
wanderers in the great region of darkness and only now and 
then can we detect their existence by faint flashes of light. After 
a long and weary gaze into space unbroken by the presence of 
any object, we are brought to a realization of mere negation, 
mere nothingness. As we look into space, let us extinguish the 
sun, the moon, the planets, the stars, the earth and every cluster 
of nebulous matter. In the awful silence we see darkness and 
oblivion. In this doleful wilderness of negation there is not an 
object to give an impression to the receptive eye, the listening 
ear, the tasteful tongue, or to any sense of feeling that signalizes 
the existence of an external world of matter. While lingering in 
this limitless field of vacancy, and longing for a break in the 
eventless oblivion, .a glimmer of light invades the mind revealing 
a dim mist in the uncertain distance. What a boundless field 
this vast, unlimitless space affords for the occupation and motion 
of the entering form of floating nebula. 

We read the book of inspiration and through its revelations 
we see the earth in a state of chaotic matter, void, without form 
and darkness upon the face of the deep. We dig down into the 
earth, and we find inscribed in its rocks and buried in its soil 
the same story which we found written in the inspired book. 
Through the inscriptions on the rocks and the relics in the 
soil we see unmistakable guide lights that take us back to that 
distant day when the earth was a diffused nebulous mass, float- 
ing like a comet through space. 



We witness the gradual changing of the nebular masses into 
globes and those moving globes assume orbits in their marvelous 
speed through space. The once vast void becomes occupid with 
mysterious worlds whirling through unbounded space to break the 




The Development of Chaos into Shapely Orbs. 



2 



oppressive monotony and to give to the mind impressions of 
external existences. In one part of this universe of matter we 
behold the transition of flying balls of heated matter into sun, 
planets, moons and wandering comets forming the Solar System. 
Impressed upon this system of orbs, by an unseen Hand, are the 
laws of gravitation, laws of motion, laws of cohesion, and all the 
laws of nature that preserve the spheres and keep in operation 
the grand display of the solar system. In this charming move- 
ment of diversified globes, the one of special interest that at- 
tracts our attention, is the third planet from the Sun, designed 
for the future dwelling place of man. Science and revelation 
confirm this evolution of the solar system from matter existing 
in a state of chaos or world dust floating through space. Can 
the mind rise to a conception of this grand evolution of matter 
in a state of confused chaos into a matchless solar system, con- 
sisting of the central Sun, attended with its planets, comets and 
inter planentary matter, all moving in perfect harmony, and each 
orb playing its part in measuring the days, the weeks, the 
months, the years and cycles of time? 

The Solar System and Man, not Works of Chance, or Necessity. 

Can any sane mind conceive of this evolution as a work of 
chance? Or can it be conceived as a result of physical necessity 
growing out of the persistent laws of nature? Did these blind 
forces, of themselves, shape and form the Sun and place each 
planet in its separate orbit to play its part in the grand movements 
within the solar dominion, and to give to the solar system a place 
among the stars of the universe? Did the moon by these physi- 
cal laws, separate itself from the earth and assume its monthly 
course around the earth presenting all its phases of changing 
light in its shifting circuits from southern to northern skies? 
Can the unclouded mind possibly conceive of unintelligent 
matter developing itself into the beauty, harmony and unrivaled 
workmanship manifested in the mechanism and operation of the 
solar system? Only one answer can be given to this question. 
All other answers to the contrary are an insult to human in- 
telligence. As certain as the sun shines, or the moon changes, 
or the earth makes her daily and yearly course, just so certain is 
there a Power, not of the matter of the universe, but a conscious, 
wise, intelligent Being who initiated the Solar System and per- 
petuates its existence and operation. 



3 



The Earth Fitted for the Abode of Man by an Omnipetent Hand. 

In spite of all that materialists may claim for matter with its 
ever changing forms, ceaseless disolution, chemical separation 
and diversity of atomic and molecular combines in producing 
air, water, soils and rocks of the earth and of the planets, there 
exists a necessity of a universal, directing intelligence that is not 
subject to the changes and fluctuations seen in the materal uni- 
verse. When we permit the evidence to come into our minds 
from all cardinal points of true evidential sourses, we are forced 
to rise above all material existence to a Higher Power, en- 
dowed with consciousness, intelligence, wisdom and goodness, to 
render possible the existence, workings and perpetuation of the 
Sun with its family of planets and the play of the earth in bring- 
ing about the ceaseless dawn of the day and the night and the 
constant beat of the heart of man in perpetuating the red stream 
of life. The universal intelligence must be absolute and inde- 
pendent, unchangeable and eternal. Al} other existences must 
be dependent. The Solar System is dependent on this Absolute 
Sustaining Power. The earth on which we live, owes its exis- 
tence and its adaptation as a home for man, to the Omnipotent 
Being. No sane mind, when reflecting on the conditions neces- 
sary to the existence of our Solar System and when reflecting 
on the delicate conditions on which human life depends, can for 
a moment doubt the existence of a God. 

With a firm and abiding faith in the existence of a God 
established in our minds, we are prepared to search the soul of 
man in its relations to God and nature. With God in mind we 
advance from the valley of mortality to the celestial heights of 
immortality. 

Endearments of Earthly Life Inspire Longings for Life Eternal. 

From the experiences of earthly life we are brought to a 
knowledge of good and evil, pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow. 
We come to a realization of the good and happiness which this 
life affords. Our appreciation of the good, the true and the 
beautiful in our earthly journey, determines the price and sacri- 
fice we are willing to pay and suffer, for an immortal conscious 
existence. Even in the midst of our pains, suffering, sorrows, 
anguish and exhausting toils in the jaws of poverty, we tena- 
ciously cling to this vale of tears, so precious to us are the en- 
dearments of life. We find so much in life during our trancient 
days on earth that we long for a life that knows no ending. As 
we unfold the treasures of our lives we fondly hurry to the 
scenes of our childhood. Soon we are in the old home in moth- 
er's fond embrace and we see the cradle in which we were rocked. 



A Return to Childhood in the Dear Old Home. 



We seem to enter a paradise of innocense and pure joy. In 
the dawning of our conscious existence, we see the approach of 
a heavenly light. As the illumination increases we see the 
countenance of an angel mother and the commanding figure of a 
kind father, the protector of the home. The first objects with 
which we become familiar, acquire an indescribeable charm over 
us. In the open fire-place, we gaze at the bright fire. The fire 
dogs, the great back-log, the sticks of wood stacked upon the 
andirons and the blazing tongues that lick the separate sticks of 
fuel, furnished rich entertainment for watchful young eyes. The 
consuming blaze converts the strong sticks into coals that crumble 
and sparkle at the feet of the fire dogs. The crumbling coals 
amid the scene of ruddy sticks, glowing back-log and the smolder- 
ing masses that are covering the feet of the fire dogs give chang- 
ing views for food to opening minds. We have been watching 
the blaze gradually make its way through a long giant stick of 
wood, the ends of which extend far over the andirons. Suddenly 
the severed stick tilts and the coals are dashed upon the hearth 
and floor producing commotion among the innocent partakers of 
soothing warmth. The startled cat leaps from its cozy bed on 
the hearth and from its safe retreat looks back in wild astonish- 
ment at the unexpected attack. The drowsy dog aroused from 
his coveted nap, raises his head in dignified pose and with a 
defiant look at the disturbed elements, refuses to retreat. What 
tongue can tell the peculiar charm that has been woven around 
the chairs, rocking-chairs, bureau, kitchen safe, table, cookstove, 
dinner-table, trundle-bed, looking-glass, the clock with the magic 
movement of its pendulum and hands, with its pleasant sound 
as it struck the hours at intervals in its continuous ticking, and 
every household article that entered into the furnishings of the 
house in the first years of wedded life in the days of simplicity 
and limited means. With increasing strength and knowledge we 
venture from the fireside into the house-yard, the barn yard, the 
garden, the orchard, the fields and the groves. In that dear old 
home where we first saw the light of day, we joyfully return to 
live that young life over again with beloved father and mother 
in a paradise of charming scenes and childish impulses. How 
vividily we recall the familiar countenances of our fond parents 
as they moved in and about that sacred home in their work day 
attire and in their Sunday regalia. Oh, what delightful emotions 
again take possession of us, as we return to that fountain of 
parental love and revel in the exuberance of joys in the child 



world. Look down that well beaten highway where many hoofs 
and vehicles have repeatedly pressed the earth. In the dis- 
tance you see a large oak tree. That tree stands in the corner 
of a field just where the road turns to the south. Follow south- 
ward a short distance and your eyes will rest on a cottage 
that is nestled amid the scenes of my childhood. Fond recol- 
lections restore me to those early scenes. I see the locust trees 
in the front yard where the birds are singing and making their 
nests. In separate beds lined by pathways, a profusion of flow- 
ers in all the colors of the rainbow greets my coming. Among 
the flowers I recognize, are hollyhocks, sweet-williams, pinks, 
lilies, violets, daffodils and roses. Just east of the house are 
two large willow trees under which we enjoyed the shade in 
sport, laughter and repose in the long summer days. Let us 
now, in blithesome spirit, skip across the way to that enchanted 
orchard and again feast on those delicious apples now ripe and 
falling from that choice tree we so well know from having 
relished its delicious fruit time and again in our youthful com- 
panionship. From tree to tree we romp over the green carpet 
of soft grass and we exult in the pure air and inspiring sunlight. 
Our foot-wear has been cast aside and the velvet grass and soft 
waters of earth give to our bare feet soothing and ^delightful 
sensations as we scamper over field and shallow waters. Hear 
that oriole whisiling its sweet tune in that beautiful maple tree. 
Out of a mansion of green foliage in yonder princely oak tree, 
comes the charming warble of an inspired robin. On a rail 
fence by the road way sits a graceful quail and as he stretches 
forth his prim little neck we hear the clear ring of "Bob White." 
The brown thrush restlessly flits from bush to bush and utters 
his notes of alarm. The jay in his blue jacket, in agitation flies 
from limb to limb, uttering complaints against his troublesome 
neighbors. The silence in the dead top of that large beech 
tree is broken, now and then, by a woodpecker drumming on a 
hollow limb. The blue bird darts from bush to tree while keep- 
ing an eye on the old stump in which it built its nest with care 
and is now anxiously guarding the tiny eggs. From its little 
quaking form the glad wren peals out upon the air, a magic song 
coming from so small a mite. High in the clear blue sky the 
chicken hawk soars in his circuitous course until he becomes a 
mere speck; and the turkey buzzard gracefully sails on wide 
stretched wings. 



6 



In the Eventide We Linger to Witness the Tokens of Parting Day. 

With only a mere glance at the great realm of pleasantries 
amidst green fields, verdant groves, charming song birds and 
sweet flowers, we must hasten to the cottage down by the road- 
side. The glorious sun, in mellowing rays, is approaching the 
western horison. The cows are coming home from rich pasture 
fields, and the weary horses, in jingling harness are plodding 
home-ward from the field of work. Here comes old Towser 
with wagging tail and gladsome pranks to welcome the return of 
the absent ones. The fowls of the house yard and barn lot are 
taking their last pick of food before retiring to their roosts. 
The turkey cock has given his closing gobble and the rooster has 
sounded his last crow in the eventide. The bees are returning 
with their last burdens of nectar, and are buzzing their hymn of 
parting day. The happy family meet again in their cotlage home 
after having reaped the pleasures of an eventful day. A general 
silence prevails in the outer world except when interrupted by 
the hoot of an owl, the chirp of a bird, the croak of a frog or the 
drone of an insect. A night of sweet slumber rejuvinated the 
weary sleepers. The mornings and the evenings with their 
joyous light and pleasant sounds, continue to pass away leaving 
in the minds of children treasures for future years. 

Uncle William and Aunt Ellen give us a pleasant visit. 

Tomorrow will be a gala day and every preparation has 
been made to fill the day with joys never to be forgotten. Uncle 
William, full of jokes and good cheer, and Aunt Ellen, so re- 
sourceful in gifts pleasing to children, will drive over in the 
two-horse wagon and bring their lovely children. Mother has 
placed five fine spring chickens under the box, ready at hand 
for killing and preparing for a choice fry. From the cellar are 
brought forth glowing cans of red cherries, juicy pears, jellies, 
butters and sweets galore. The sun rises in unusual glory. The 
clarion notes of the rooster ring on the morning air. There 
seems to be a peculiar inspiration in the fresh air and sun light. 
All things seem to contribute in fitting the day for joy and mer- 
riment. We stand upon the highway anxiously looking to catch 
a glimpse of an approaching wagon. In the distance a moving 
object appears. A sharp look out by youthful eyes, renders clear 
the magic swing of Uncle William's visiting caravan. Merry 
voices exclaim: "It's Uncle William, It's Uncle William." The 
two noble iron-gray horses come dashing down the road while 
Uncle William in beaming countenance and gallant style firmly 
holds the lines to restrain the ambitious steeds. Great is the 
joy as the wagon haults at the words of Uncle William "Whoa 



7 



Boys." What a greeting. There is a good old-time shaking of 
hands, kissing and hugging. Mother and Aunt Ellen cling long 
in an affectionate embrace. Every child revels in delight amid 
the shaking of hands and affectionate press of the lips. There is 
no affectation, prudery or false modesty among these plain, rural 
families. Their joy leaps from pure, innocent hearts in the un- 
adulterated simplicity of life. The horses are stabled and we 
find inexhaustible sources of pleasure for young hearts in swing- 
ing, romping, games of black-man, blind-man's-buff, hide-and-go- 
seek and pussy-wants-a-corner. There is conversation and laugh- 
ter in the kitchen where the sumptuous meal is being evolved. 
Uncle William is telling his jokes and the whole household is 
overflowing with merriment and happy impressions are being 
formed never to be obliterated from memory's garden. The day 
for romping, play, feasting and conversation is so long as to pro- 
duce in the young minds and hearts a new fountain of pleasure, 
decorated with imperishable memories of the old home and the 
visitation of Uncle William and his lovable family. Family love 
and accord are fountains from which issue treasures of happiness 
that enter into our lives. Most endearing to us become the 
significance of the words, father, mother, brother, sister, uncle, 
aunt, nephew, niece and cousin. The thoughts and emotions 
awakened by the mere utterance of theses names in our reflect- 
ions on home associations, can not find fitting words to express 
the full measure of happiness they impart to our lives. The 
fond ties of relationship, properly fostered, form in our hearts a 
lasting source of happiness and a greater appreciation of life. 

Our Neighbors Enlarge the Circle of Enjoyment. 

Passing from the home, we soon discover that there are 
other homes than ours. In that house across the fields lives the 
Sumner family, just a half mile south, by the road side dwells the 
Marshall family and yonder where you see those pine trees, is 
the domicile of the Warman family. From different points of 
view on our home premises, we can see farm houses far and 
near, and we rejoice to know that we are surrounded with kind 
neighbors who afford us an enlargement and diversity in the en- 
joyments of life. We visit our neighbors and find a hearty wel- 
come. How resourceful we find them in entertaining us by acts 
neighborly regards and words of good cheer. 

We ramble over new field and groves and associate with 
John, Paul, Samuel, Jacob, Joseph, Joshua, Mathew, Mary, Magda- 
lene, Rachel, Rebecca, Ruth and many other dear boys artd girls 
whose images will ever be with us as we roam in spirit over the 
paradise where ties of neighborly associations were first formed. 



Fond Associations are Formed in School Room and Play Ground. 



The acquaintanceship formed among the neighbors becomes 
more intimate at the district school where the youthful hearts 
are brought into closer touch in their daily meeting in the school- 
room and on the play ground. Visions of happiness play through 
the minds of the school boy and the school girl as they vie with 
each other in study and recitation in class, or display their 
qualities of mind and body in the rivalry of the playgroand. 
How fond hearts grew together and charming forms moved 
within the borders of the school jurisdiction. Can we forget the 
well thumbed books, the smoothly worn seats, the whisper in 
study, the voices in recital and the sdcratic wisdom of our 
venerated teacher? We seem to pass again through the long 
hours of study and play, the spellbound contests on Friday 
afternoons, the joyful night spelling matches on moonlight nights, 
or when the snowflakes, little angels of the sky, came down in 
myriads to cover the earth in a soft robe of white. The boys 
and girls that accompanied us on the roads, lanes and pathways, 
to and from school, are still sauntering with us in memory's 
sweet byways. While we gladly recall the pleasures of life, we 
are also mindful of the unpleasant visitations of chills, fevers, 
croup, whooping cough, chicken-pox, measles, tooth ache, head- 
ache, disappointments, slavish tasks and harsh treatment by 
cruel masters. But these dark clouds are only seen in parts of 
the clear, blue sky, and each cloud presents a silver lining as it 
flies away. The sun of early love seems to consume the 
obstacles that darkened the sky of happiness. 

Groves and Fields are Filled With Exquisite Charms. 

The days of courtship begin to dawn. Angels come to 
earth. In rapturous mood we saunter through pleasant fields 
and charming groves. We stroll in secluded pathways and 
travel on charmed highways. Standing in the refreshing shade 
of a large oak tree, just where the roadway passes over the hill, 
our eyes light upon an enchanting landscape. In the open 
pasture appear the grazing animals. Here a horse, there a cow, 
yonder a sheep. In the distance a herd of cattle, a flock of sheep 
or troop of horses Under that shade tree in the midst of a 
stretch of open pasture, are cows pleasantly ruminating. En- 
ticing grQves and the long green borders of woodlands delight 
our roaming eyes. Fond impulses are awakened in our hearts, 
and we travel those sacred paths by fountains in the grove and 
by the sweet murmuring stream of the woodland where children 



9 



filled their sports with joyous laughter and the voice of love first 
thrilled us. In this eden of first love, no Syrian carpet could 
compare with the spotless green grass, no canopy was so enjoy- 
able as the shady bowers, and no music sweeter than the rip- 
pling waters and the chirp and warble of the feathered songsters 
in the breathing foliage. Awakened from our dream, we walk 
down the road to a gate that opens into a lane bordered with a 
rail fence in the corners of which are tufts of soft grass and wild 
rose bushes in which birds are nesting, We hear the clear ring 
of "Bob White" from a top rail. Our eyes follow the lane up to 
a cluster of fascinating trees among which we catch a glimpse of 
a log cabin full of enchantment from the yearly visit of the 
choice songsters of the forest and field, and enraptured by the 
mellow light of many a golden sun-set. On closer view we see 
the house yard decorated with a profusion of beautiful flowers 
and in the open door stands a light hearted maiden, the pride of 
the family. In innocence and purity this lovely virgin has filled 
the cabin home with beams of happiness. How the spirit loves 
to go back to its delightful virgin impulses in the realms of child- 
hood and to dwell again in the long rich hours of unfolding love. 
But however much We may yearn for a continuance of the pre- 
cious joys of life, the great current of time bears us onward 
toward the ocean of eternity. 

We Must Pass into Regions of Toil and Hardship. 

We pass out of the romping land of childhood and through 
the romantic scenes of loveland into the more rugged regions of 
duties, sacrifices, obligations and responsibilities. In the midst 
of our labors, problems of life, struggles for subsistence under 
the burdens of disease, misfortunes and financial crashes, we 
still find in this life, in spite of its adversities, a jewel so precious 
that we are unwilling to surrender our birth right at any price. 
After having tasted the sweets of life, after being entertained at 
the banquet of affection, after having drank deep at the foun- 
tains of love and having entwined around our hearts the loved 
ones of earth, we ask ourselves the question, shall our own 
existence end all that is dear to us in life, pass into oblivion at 
the moment of death? 



10 



"Strange is it not? that the myriads who, 
Before us passed the door of darkness through, 
Not one returned to tell us of the road 
Which to discover we must travel too." 

"The prince who kept the world in awe, 
The judge whose dictates fixed the law 
The rich, the poor, the great, the small, 
Are leveled: death confounds 'em all." 

"How shall I know thee in the sphere which keeps 
The disembodied spirits of the dead, 
When all of thee that time could wither, sleeps 
And perishes among' the dust we tread?" 

We See the Physical Man Dissolved Into Earth, Water anil Air. 

In this life we are constantly fixing our eyes on material 
forms. We become very much impressed with the changes we 
see in matter. We see the phenomenon and mistake it for the 
substance. The physical man appears before us in form and in 
action. In a catastrophy the form is destroyed and scattered 
into atoms. The corporal body disappears never again to be 
seen by mortal eyes. To all appearances there is a complete 
destruction of the entire man. As far as this earthly life is con- 
cerned, his presence and association with men in the flesh, is 
forever ended. No more will he be seen by the physical eye of 
man, no longer will his voice be heard To all living humanity 
he is dead. From the stand point of view of our relationships 
and dealings with him, he no longer exists. He is blotted out of 
existence. Viewing man from the worldly point of view; look- 
ing into his flesh alone, measuring him up by his averdupois 
and drawing our conclusions from man's physical existence 
alone, we see nothing in him but what is mortal. According to 
this rounding up of man, he is a mere worm of the earth and 
his existence terminates when the breath leaves the body and 
the elements thereof are mingled in earth and air. But when 
we advance from mere appearances of man as we see him on 
earth, to the very heart and essence of his being, we are brought 
to a clear realization of the dark pit-falls into which we plunge 
by following those phantoms that seem to us the real existent 
beings. We mistate a phenomena or attributes of being for the 
being itself. We follow the mere shadow and fancy it to be the 
real being that casts the shadow. While we may portray and 
describe all the fleeting phenomona and give expression to all 
the impressions made upon our minds by the outward world 
and by the operations of our inner organism, yet it is not possi- 
ble for us to know the essence or substance that transmits to us 
all the impressions of which we are susceptible. We do know 



11 



that there is a magic force that we call "life" which holds together 
all the organs of our bodies and the component parts of every 
organ. Life in itself is" a mystery too profound for science or 
philosophy to fathom. We see the decay and disolution of mat- 
ter in organized bodies but we do not see the invisible life that 
held together the organism. 

We Become Aware of an Unseen Existence—Life. 

We can not say that there is any death to the life that vital- 
izes the body. In fact all that we can perceive is the melting 
away and falling apart of the material particles that enter into 
the corporal body. In all organized forms, whether animal or 
vegetable, there is that parsistent, myrterious force, termed life 
which draws to itself the elements of the material world and 
forms them into bodies consisting of organs through which life 
plays its unseen existence, which existence is made manifest to 
us by the impressions we receive from the forms, movements 
and impress of matter. The magnet, life, draws to itself the 
material fitted for forming living organisms of various kinds, and 
shapes each organism for the part it must serve in the variety of 
being on earth. As in all plant and animal existence the life force 
is essential, so also is this quickening, animate force essential to 
human existance as we find it on earth. There is a life that quick- 
ens the human body and plays a complexity of action in and 
through every organ. This quickning force is the motor that 
keeps in operation every department in the physical man. The 
lungs expand and contract in imparting oxygen to the blood and 
in casting out the poisonous gases of the body. The heart, like a 
tiny engine, pumps the adulterated stream of life to the lungs for 
purificaiion and on the return of the purified blood presses it to 
all parts of the system for the repair and growth of the wasting 
organs. The stomach churns the food supplies and prepares the 
extracts that enter into the milky stream. The liver niters the 
murky liquid and pours gall into the blockaded bowel. The 
kidneys extract the poison from the sluggish blood and redden 
the darkened stream. As the blood goes the round of circulation 
each organ dips into the stream and selects and appropriates the 
material necessary for its repair and growth; and at the same 
time pours into the current the waste and useless matter that has 
served its purpose. The brain crowns all the other organs and is 
the emporium of intelligence. Its many convolutions and hun- 
dreds of nerve lines for receiving and transmitting intelligence 
render it a matchless organ for the vehicle of thought. 

Man is More Than a Mere Living Organism. 

Man is not the mere corporal body. He is not the mere life of the 
body. Physical organism vitalized by mere life force, possesses no 



12 



conscious existence, no intelligence. We have come to the 
threshold of an existence that is not of the nature of matter and 
bears no resemblance to mere animal life. We have advanced 
to an existence that is conscious of its existence. We have come 
to an existence that thinks. 

The Immortal in God is Imparted to Man. An Image. 

The omnipotent and eternal God planted in the living 
organism an image that bears all the marks of immortality. In 
the omnipotent Being we followed a series of deductions from 
self-evident facts that brought us into the light of a consciousness 
that pervades the universe. Within this one universal conscious 
existence, we saw in the universe manifectations of reason, un- 
derstanding, memory and volition. From the image of God in 
our own souls we received a capacity for recognizing the at- 
tributes of the Omnipotent Mind. As the universe came from 
the Creator and is an expression of his thought, so man, being 
the image of God, recognizes the plan, laws and operations of 
the universe. Man's reason being in the image of divine reason, 
follows the course of God's creative thought that brought forth 
our Solar System. God's thought imaged in our minds enables 
us to measure the size, distance and motions of the sun and to 
reason out the construction and operation of that system of orbs 
of which the sun ia the center. In God is the thought of etern- 
ity. In man is the image of the eternal thought and man could 
not apprehend that eternity that had no beginning were it not 
for the image of God in man. The eternity that had no begin- 
ning and the eternity that has no ending can enter into the 
thought of the mind that embarks on that eternity that is unend- 
ing. Man thinks immortality therefore is the thinking mind im- 
mortal. Man had a potential existence from eternity and that 
potentiality existing in the mind of the Greator was imaged in 
the mind of man when God imparted to man the image of the 
eternal Mind. 

Man Draws from the Realms of Nature, Immortal Ideas. 

We look into the vegetable kingdom and behold an endless 
variety and profusion of plants in the forms of grasses, grains, 
flowers, night-shades, shrubs and trees, designed to afford en- 
tertainment and instruction for the mind of man in preparing 
him for immortality. Early in the spring the tiny seed in the 
soil, after enduring the intense cold of winter, awakens from its 
sleep and the life within the seed manifests itself by sending a 
green signal out of the earth. Out of the graves beneath the 
dark, drear surface of the earth, a signal of the approach of 
a living vegetable kingdom, rises into view, to gladen the 



13 



heart of man. The eye that grew weary of hovering over naked 
woods, meadows brown and sear and the desolate earth rendered 
lifeless and leafless by the ravages of grim winter, joyously 
greets the first green emblem of life in the vast cemetery in 
which all vegetation lies buried. A happy thought leaps into 
the mind as the green messenger sends forth the glad tidings 
through the medium of vision into the realm of consciousness. 
The assurance comes to us that out of the tomb into which 
winter has consigned the plant world, there is now emerging 
from the earth all the beauty, order and profusion of plant life 
seen in departed years, so often initiated by the gentle touch of 
early Spring. At first we see the grass merely peeping from the 
bosom of mother earth, and then follows a growth and develop- 
ment so rapid and profuse that we marvel at the magic forms of 
green that carpet house-yards, lawns, borders of highways, fields 
and the approaches to forest and stream. Each blade of grass 
presents the design and workmanship of a master hand and we 
lose ourselves in contemplation of the innumerable millions of 
blades and connecting fibers that enter into the delicate network 
of the fabrics of green that beautify the earth on gleeful Mayday 
morns. The advancing days of spring are accompanied with the 
ever mysterious unfolding and multiplying of leaves, blossoms, 
branches and phenomena of plant life. Some plants spring into 
life, grow into maturity, ripen the seed for the continuous 
existence of their kind and disappear in death, all within a 
few days. The life of many plants is measured by a few months, 
passing through every change in the warm season of the year. 
On the departure of Winter, the hand of man is deftly and 
strenuously employed in fittingly preparing the soil, planting the 
seed and cultivating the plants that flourish only during the 
summer months, but which furnish the food supplies on which 
humanity subsists. 

The flowering plants present to the eye colors and forms so 
beautiful and gorgeous that we are at a loss to express our joy 
and appreciation as we revel in the veritable fairy land of floral 
beauty. The all wise Being furnished man with the generic 
types of all plants and flowers and imparted to man endowments 
of mind that enable him to produce every variety of plant and 
flower that may be developed by culture and intermingling of 
families of plants that have an affinity for each other. The 
Creator has blessed men with the happy faculty of beautifying 
the home, the garden, the lawns and the parks with magic 
designs and charming displays of variegated flowers and foliage 
that fill the heart with transports of joy and awaken in the mind 



14 



the gentle touch of a divine hand. "Consider the lilies of the 
field how they grow: they labor not, neither do they spin, but I 
say to you that even Solomen in all his glory was not arrayed as 
one of these." 

Draughts from Nature in a Rural Ride. 

In our rural rides we are entertained by fields of wheat, 
oats, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, buckwheat, millet and other crops 
planted and cared for by the hand of man. Within one year all 
these food producing plants emerge from the earth, pass through 
all transformations into maturity, ripen, decay and disappear in 
death. As we muse on these fleeting fields of short-lived vegeta- 
tion, we halt at the roadside to examine a head of wheat, an ear 
of corn, a grain of oats or a growing potato. We can not express 
our emotions as we trace the mysterious processes of nature 
through roots, stem, branches and leaves in preparing the nursery 
in which each grain is nourished and developed into food for the 
support of human life. Within this compact, tiny grain is tend- 
erly inclosed the germ ,from which may develope fields of grain 
to feed unborn generations and to furnish employment in agri- 
culture, manufacture and commerce. While impressed with the 
unfolding process of celular growth that brings the germinated 
grain into existence, we elevate our eyes and view with admira- 
tion the wide spreading field with its millions of like grains hid- 
den in a sea of waving heads. Field after field passes before 
us, and the charm of multiplicity, vastness and mystery of plant 
growth, brings within our minds a connected view of all the 
fields with their diversity of crops and awakens a happy thought 
that will survive after humanity has run its earthly career. We 
turn from the plants that survive but for one short season to 
those that continue their existence for years. 

A Saunter In the Forest to View A Giant Tree. 

On a winter's day we step in the presence of a massive oak 
tree. Its great trunk is five feet in diameter. The naked branches 
extend more than a hundred feet toward the clouds and form a 
canopy covering a space of earth two hundred feet in circumfer- 
ence. The bleak winds wail in the swaying branches of the 
immense top supported by the powerful trunk. The trunk is 
held in stable position by strong roots that lie buried in the 
earth like supporting cables. Impressed thus with the noble 
tree we leave the forest not to return until a summer day. De- 
lighted with the wild flowers of June we saunter in the shade of 
the superabundant foliage of the proud forest. Again we stand 
in the imposing presence of the giant oak. 



IS 



What a change! In winter's chilling storm we looked into 
the nakedness and desolation of the leafless tree. Now we be- 
hold it clothed in a rich robe of green. Each branch stands out 
like a banner bearing its clusters of rustling leaves. All the 
branches combine in forming one tremendous mass of breathing 
foliage that gently bows to us a welcome greeting. We catch 
glimpses of squirrels that gambol among the branches, and 
winged worshipers that fill the grand green temple with sweet 
warbles and songs of praise to the divine Architect. Seated 
under this oak, our minds become filled with traditions of the 
days of yore when the deer frolicked on the ground where we 
now sit. In this same place the Indian bent his bow and our 
ancestors chased the wild game or pursued the treacherous wolf. 
Two centuries have lapsed into the silence of departed years, 
yet this grand oak tree still stands notwithstanding the storms 
and tempests that endeavored to demolish it and destroy its 
grandeur and shade which we now enjoy. Will this grand ob- 
ject of earth that has filled a place in the minds of departed 
generations, ever vanish from the ideal world we are forming for 
eternity? Though the tree may wither and decay, shall the 
thoughts and emotions which it awakened in our minds forever 
perish with it? In our present life we are not permitted to tarry 
long in pleasant shades. Leaving the delightful feast furnished 
by the tree of two centuries, we continue our walk through the 
forest, now and then stopping to admire a tall senator that com- 
mands our attention. The ever varying species, forms, sizes and 
phenomena that go to make up a forest, enter our minds through 
the senses as we pursue our way, and there is imparted to us 
the one grand idea of a forest. We single out the oak, the wal- 
nut, the elm, the sycamore, the poplar, the beech, the hickory, 
the maple, the willow, the sassafras, the ash, the lynn, the mul- 
berry and other varieties that add their charms to the luxuries 
of the forest. Gladly would we extend our stay in the freshness, 
coolness and pleasant scenes of the forest, but the sun is now 
about to dive into the western ocean and darkness will soon 
hide the beauty of the verdant wonderland. Time is speeding 
away and we must not tarry. We are only permitted to taste 
the choice pleasures of life on earth, that we may receive intima- 
tions of the inexhaustible sources of happiness in the boundless 
forests that perpetually blossem and bring forth a superabund- 
ance of foliage in a region where the soul shall ever sing praises 
to God and through endless time enjoy the coolness, freshness and 
inspirations of shady bowers, green pastures, pure flowing streams, 
fountains sending forth clear crystal waters, springs emitting the 



16 



waters of perpetual youth. Man's life upon earth would be of 
little significance were he a mere creature of fleeting pleasures 
without duties, obligations and responsibilities. 

A Toilsome Road from the Forest Delights. 

It seems that he has a stewardship to perform to render him 
worthy of that perpetual happiness, of which he can have but a 
mere taste in this life. We are subjected ,to the severest tests, 
and unexpected obstacles block our pathways. We emerge from 
the pleasant grove and soon we tread the heated highway. 
Under the broiling heat of the sun we press onward facing a 
suffocating dust. We become enveloped with the scum of the 
roadway. We sweat and swelter and the flowing sweat converts 
the accumulated dust into a slime that besmears our whole body. 
In appearance we become like unsightly deamons stealing forth 
from a den of wretchedness. Soon we escape from this dis- 
tressed condition to find ourselves in pleasant garb, breathing a 
pure exhilarating atmosphere and looking into prosperous, happy 
days before us. The weather becomes unfavorable. An acci- 
dent adds further embarrassment. Money matters tighten. Our 
well laid plans are becoming frustrated by the gradual loss of 
the means relied upon for carrying them into execution. Disease 
invades our home at the very moment when we have solved 
the problem of avoiding a financial failure. The hand 
that provides the food of life becomes paralyzed. Dread of the 
poor-house comes over the mind. Death, like a grim monster, 
faces us in our unspeakable distress. Even the horrors of the 
mad house, wreck our minds with awful apprehensions. We 
become fearful of losing everything in this world — our property — 
our relatives — our friends — even our very selves. We see and 
feel that our frail bodies are wasting and that there is no escape 
from death and dissolution. In mourning, and in sickness, 
almost unto death, we follow to the grave, those who have been 
nearest to our hearts. We mark the resting place of our loved 
ones with a monument of cold stone. While we are aware that 
the body will dissolve in the grave and every particle of it again 
mingle in the clouds, the air, the ocean and the earth, yet we 
annually return to look upon that monument to recall to our 
minds a memory of the departed one and to remind ourselves 
that we also will be dissolved in the tomb to become dust, air 
and water. 



17 



We Pause to Get Our Latitude and Longitude In Our Distress. 

In thus following the changes and annihilation, as it were, 
of our frail mortal bodies, let us pause to get our true latitude 
and longitude on this seeming sea of dispair. As we steadfastly 
gaze on the body in its development, maturity and dissolution, 
we are tempted to cast a doubt on immortality and to look upon 
the birth and death of the body as the beginning and end of 
man. We inscribe on the tombstone two important dates — 
born-died! It is said that seeing is believing, yet we are lured 
into grave optical illusions by wholly trusting our eyes. On 
further reflection we become fully convinced that there is an 
existence that mortal eye can not see, nor mortal ear hear. We 
can see no dissolution in the unseen. We can place no tomb- 
stone to mark the resting place of the mind — the spirit — the 
soul. Here we come to the parting of the ways, the parting of 
the body and the soul. While life is in the body, we follow the 
body for we know the soul dwells there. Having formed this 
habit in our earthly walks, we are disposed to continue our walk 
after the body, even after the spirit has taken its departure on a 
separate road at the parting of the ways in death. No under- 
taker ever placed a winding sheet around the spirit of a man. 
No casket was ever made to inclose the mind of a man. No pall 
bearers ever carried into the church that essence of man that 
understands, reasons and wills. No hearse ever rumbled over 
the pavements bearing away the spirit, the soul or the mind of 
the departed one, to the grave. No clods were heard to fall on 
the coffin of the mind. Every act that can be done by living 
mortals for a man from his death bed to the grave, can only be 
done in disposing of the dead body, and the dead body is noth- 
ing more than what remains of the man after the very soul and 
real essence of the man has departed from the body at the part- 
ing of the ways. 

On Earth We Are Forging Our Way to A Higher Life. 

This life is a struggle for a higher existence. The difficulties 
and misfortunes that beset us are designed to summon forth 
those virtues of our souls that convert us into noble men and 
women worthy of citizenship in an empire of perpetual happi- 
ness. In this life no person is exempt from pain, suffering, dis- 
ease, misfortunes and death, no matter what may be his station, 
his wealth or seeming comforts on earth. Not a day passes but 
we receive a message of the downfall of men who have gained 
renown the world over by reason of their massive wealth, 



18 



opulent living or genius in some calling of life. Emergencies 
arise in which we unexpectedly become entangled in a net of 
difficulties and our only escape is by the exercise of the noblest 
faculties of the mind. The passage through this severe ordeal 
opens our eyes to knowledge and wisdom. Under the restraints 
of the body and the resisting forces which oppose the free action 
of the body, the mind must unravel the whole network of diffi- 
culties that endanger the body and forestall the unfolding of the 
proudest achievements of the human soul in buildtng up a noble 
character. 

Thoughts that Never Die are Wrought in Man's Ordeals on Earth. 

Out of the experiences in the living body the mind rises to 
the eternal ideals upon which the whole framework of nature, 
with all its operations, rests. The organized forms which we 
see in nature are perishable, but the ideals and the mind in 
which these ideals are drawn from the universe, are imperish- 
able. The forests of the earth are transient. The ideals that 
the mind derives from these transient forests are permanent. 
The forest which we view today may be swept away tomorrow, 
but the forest of the mind will never be swept away. The 
massive material structure of St. Peter's in Rome will crumble to 
dust, but the design in the mind of the great architect, Michael 
Angelo, and the mind itself that designed the grand structure 
while dwelling in an earthly body, will survive the wreck of all 
earthly structures. Whatever may be the transient impressions 
and experiences of the soul, while confined to the body, we can 
draw no conclusions as to its conscious existence after disrobing 
the body, by merely observing the effects of disease and death 
on the body. The body is the medium in and through which 
the mind communicates with all earthly beings and acquires a 
knowledge of the earth not only as a single world but as a 
planet in one of the solar systems that go to make up the 
universe. 

The Mind Exists, Although Consciousness May Have Temporarily Retired 

The mind exists although it may be temporarily uncon- 
scious of its existence. In death we could be no more 
unconscious of our existence than we are in sound sleep. We 
look at a man sound asleep on a cot. In another room we look 
at a pale corpse prepared for burial. In one body there is life, 
in the other body there is no life. The one man we say is 
asleep, the other dead. They are both unconscious. A return 
to consciousness in the living body will be made manifest to us 



19 



us by the physical movements and expressions. But as there is 
no life force remaining in the corpse to move it, even if con- 
sciousness should be there, we have no way of ascertaining that 
fact as the live wire through which we receive the message from 
consciousness is severed and irreparable. As we patiently watch 
for some semblance of a message from the dead body, we at last 
become aware that dissolution is setting in, and we are made 
absolutely certain that the line of communication between the 
dead man and living humanity is forever severed, especially the 
line leading from the dead to the living. But we can. not be 
made certain that the dead remain ignorant of all current his- 
tory that the living are now making on earth. The dead may be 
receiving wireless messages daily from earth, or they may be 
actual spectators of the great drama that living humanity is now 
enacting on this planet. While the soul is united to the body 
there must be an alternate state of consciousness and uncon- 
sciousness, as there is in nature an alternation of day and night. 
The physical man requires rest to restore the wasted brain and 
exhausted limbs, to proper vigor and condition for the activities 
and operations of the conscious mind. The relations established 
between mind and body are such, that the imperative law of 
nature demands that the mind shall retire from its conscious 
field of operations daily to afford the body the needed time for 
recuperation. If this law is violated, disastrous results are sure 
to follow. It remains for the reasoning mind to so adjust its af- 
fairs in life as to give, in proper measure, healthful exercise and 
rest to the body, the servant of the mind in this earthly journey. 
As the mind operates within the limitations imposed upon it by 
the disciplinary restraints and purifying ordeals within the 
boundary lines of the body, we can not reasonably conclude that 
the destruction of the machine, the body, is the destructive of the 
operator, the mind The mind may remain in the living body 
for months in a state of unconsciousness by reason of an im- 
peded passageway in the realm traversed by rivers of blood, 
winding canals, netways of nerves, structures of bone, and 
pathways of cables holding in tact the separate organs of the 
entire realm of the bodily organism. A passageway of the 
brain may be entirely closed, temporarily suspending the opera- 
tions of the mind in its bodily environments. A surgeon re- 
moves the obstruction, or the natural absorbents of the body 
sap the impediment and there is a complete restoration of the 
conscious action of the mind. 



2(1 



The Body is the Bark which Floats on a Troubled Sea Under the Guidance 
of the Pilot, the Mind. 

As the bark in which we float in this life passes over the 
troubled sea, anxieties, fears, troubles, pain, suffering, embarrass- 
ments and despair enter into the conscious mind. An awful 
darkness spreads over the waters and consciousness disappears 
in sleep. Our bark still floats bearing within its hull the un- 
conscious mind. The mind awakes into consciousness to find 
itself far away at sea in a frail bark, still tossed by the troubled 
waves. How the soul is united to this frail bark, the body, is 
beyond human explanation. The sea of existence on which the 
bark floats is an unsolved mystery. We are certain that what 
we call the body and what we call the mind exist together on 
what we desigate as the earth. The mind, that has never passed 
through the gate of death, can not understand in what way the 
soul can exist apart from the body. The mind encounters the 
same difficulty in its endeavor to understand the possibility of 
the soul's existence in the living body. We are fully persuaded 
that there are truths all wrapped in mystery and of which we 
are as certain as the plainest and simplest facts that confront us 
in our daily walks. A truth is none the less a truth merely 
because it is beyond the sphere of man's understanding. 

Distinction Between Acts of Mind and Acts of Body. 

We distinguish the mind from the body by the distinct parts 
that each plays in the sphere of its being and the separate pur- 
pose clearly discoverable in each. In the body we see move- 
ment and action. The blood flows. The heart beats. The lungs 
breathe. The muscles and bones move. The nerves vibrate in 
the transmission, of intelligence and feeling. The mind feels, 
reasons, understands, remembers, and is conscious of the dis- 
tinctive manifestations of mind and body. The mind thinks and 
is the essence or substance from which emanate thoughts and 
conscious existence. The body moves and acts and is the vehicle 
in which the mind acquired experiences and impressions that go 
to make up the grand complexity of thought relations that give 
to the mind the multiplicity of earthly beings in their separate 
kingdoms and that transcendency of celestial knowledge that 
acquaints man with the plan and operations of the solar system 
and the part that system plays in the sublime and harmonious 
march of the universe. 



21 



The Greatest Minds of Departed Ages Believed in the Immortality 

Of The, Soul. 

If we consult the human family in every age of its existence, 
we hear in one clear #©iee; with scarcely an audible dissenting 
tongue, that man is a being consisting of soul and body which are 
intimately bound together during the earthly journey. No mat- 
ter what may be the difference of views as to the place, state or 
condition of the soul after death, the universal doctrine has pre- 
vailed in all time and among all nations, that there exists in man 
an immortal soul. This docrine of the immortality of the soul is 
generally coupled with the doctrine that the good and worthy 
souls will dwell forever in a place of happiness and that the 
wicked and debased souls will live forever in strife and misery 
in a place of torments. Aside from the belief of the great 
masses of the human race in all times, great philosophers and 
reasoners stood c*ut from among the masses declaring their con- 
victions in the immortality l: of the soul. These great thinkers 
not only declared their faith, but they followed the well defined 
trails of evidence that conducted them into a certainty of their 
endless conscious existence. 

Plutarch, a, G^eek philosopher, and historian, wljo lived in 
the first century in speaking about the future life of ttie soul 
says: "This belief which we hold (in the immortality q£ the 
soul) is so old that we can not trace its author or its origin, and 
it dates back to the most remote antiquity." More than eight 
centuries before the Christian era the Greek poet, Homer, wrote 
masterly poems of remarkable length, that have endured to the 
present day. Those poems are now in every university in the 
world, and in a great measure reveal the manners, customs and 
beliefs of the people at that early day. In following the thoughts 
of the poet in the printed lines, the earthly actors appear upon 
the stage in the great contest between the Greeks and the 
Trogans and in the wanderings of Ulysses. The whole peom is 
pervaded with the assumption and belief in the immortality 
of the soul. Socrates, the greatest philosopher of his day, dwelt 
in ancient Greece, more than three centuries before the be- 
ginning of the calendar that now marks the year, the month 
and the day in Christendom. The closing days of this remark- 
able man on earth furnished hope and consolation to living 
humanity. His enemies put him to death, but he informed them 
that they could only inflict death on his body, that at the 
death of his body his spirit would be free. 



22 



Socrates, in speaking of the burial of his body, requested 
that those who conversed about the burial should be careful to 
speak the truth and not say, that Socrates is buried but that the 
remains of Socrates is buried, for the reason that only the earthly 
remains of Socrates would be consigned to the grave; that the 
real Socrates, the soul, the spirit, the conscious thinking essence, 
would be free from the body and free from the power of his 
persecutors. Cicero, the renouned Roman orator, who lived in 
the century preceeding the appearance of the star that lighted 
the way to Bethlehem, says: "There is, I know not how, in the 
mind of men, a certain presage, as it were, of a future existence, 
and this takes the deepest root, and is the most discoverable, in 
the greatest geniuses and most exalted souls." Centuries before 
this Homer said: 

" Tis true, 'tis certain, man, though dead retains 
Part of himself; the immortal mind remains." 

Ovid, the Roman poet who lived at the time the star direct- 
ed the men of the East to Bethlehem, said: "Welcome the day 
which can destroy only my physical man in ending my uncer- 
tain life. In my better part I shall be raised to immortality, 
above the lofty stars, and my name shall never die." The pow- 
ers of darkness never cease to obscure and close the minds of 
men to those transcendent lights that reveal to aspiring minds 
the grand truth of the soul's immortality. To overcome the 
tendencies and proneness of the the human race to disregard 
those truths that pertain to the unseen Intelligence that directs 
the march of the universe and that pertain to the unseen soul in 
its immortal nature, it seems that men of great souls appear in 
every age to awaken the drooping spirits of men to the inspiring 
truth of immortality and the relations of that immortality to the 
Ruler of the universe. The wise men, great philosophers and 
prophets disappeared in their graves, never to appear before men 
again. That energy and inspiration that they imparted to the 
men of their times relaxed and there was a drifting away into 
materialism and a confining of "the attention to this life and its 
industrial, commercial and pleasurable affairs. The important 
truth of men's immortality had not become sufficiently clear to 
convince many doubttng minds, as such minds could not under- 
stand how the mind could exist apart from the body and no man, 
after being consigned to the grave, had ever reappeared to estab- 
lish the possibility of the mind's existence after the death of the 
physical organism. While the philosophers, sages and prophets 
could offer masterly arguments in support of the continued life 
of the soul after death, and gave expression to their unswerving 
conviction in a spiritual life beyond the tomb, yet not one of 



23 



these great lights ever returned from the grave in form and 
manner to demonstrate to doubting humanity that the conscious 
activity of the mind continues after the dead body has been con- 
signed to the earth out of which originally came all the materials 
that composed the body. As the centuries glided into the silence 
of departed generations, the once clear recognition of God and 
and the spirit of man clothed in its immortality, gradually faded 
into doubt and uncertainty as to man's existence after death. 
The further man drifted down the current of time, the more his 
mind seemed to lose its grasp on its divine origin and its im- 
mortal nature. While atheism was confined to its narrow 
black sea, yet the clouds of doubt dimmed the buoyant hope of 
men and enlarged the dominion of agnosticism. 

The All Wise, Through Choice Channels, has Revealed to Man the 
Soul's Immortality. 

In the course of human events the Great Spirit that rules 
the universe, has, in the fullness of time, made revelations to 
man concerning his eternal welfare and happiness. These reve- 
lations have marked the course of human history with such 
peculiar significance as to inaugurate a distinct era in the hur- 
ried march of the human race. In the far east a guiding star 
moved toward Bethlehem. The wise men that had come from 
afar, followed the kindly light. The Light of the world appeared 
in a manger. This Light came from the throne of God to teach 
mankind the conduct and manner of life that merit heaven and 
to demonstrate that death is but the beginning of life eternal. 
The world bows to the child of Bethlehem as the most remark- 
able being that has ever appeared on earth. The pure and ex- 
emplary life of the One who walked the way that leads to heaven 
and preached to man the Sermon on the Mount, has revealed to 
the heart and intellect of benighted humanity, the most inspir- 
ing message that has even come from the unseen world. The 
words that dropped from his lips were messages from the throne 
of Wisdom. The works that he performed caused men to ex- 
claim. "My Lord and My God." He restored sight to the blind, 
hearing to the deaf, health to the sick and life to the dead. In 
the desert, he multiplied the loaves of bread to feed the hungry, 
and at sea he walked upon the waters. While in the flesh he 
demonstrated to living men, the dominion of mind over matter. 
Into the dead body of Lazarus he called back the de- 
parted spirit and Lazarus came forth from the dead to 
converse with his fellow men in the flesh. The things 
that a man can perform while living in his mortal 
body, might be attributed to animal magnetism, or some 



24 



life principle by which the living may exercise a power over the 
sick, the apparently dead and even o ver all animate beings. But 
the crucial question that suggests itself, is: After a man is dead, 
and his corpse alone is all that is left of him, so far as can be 
made manifest to us, is it possible for the spirit which dwelt in 
the body, to re-enter the body brought into action by a return 
of life and the man reappear among his acquaintances in such 
manner as to convince them that he is the same individual that 
lived, moved and was a man among men in this earthly life? 
After the unseen forces that impart life and intelligence to the 
material organism have departed from the body, can the de- 
parted life and intelligence draw about them the material form 
in which the eyes of men on earth distinguished a separate 
personality? 

The All Wise, Through Choice Channels, Has Revealed to Man the Soul's 

Immortality. 

Christ lived incarnate among men, as a separate personality, 
clearly distinguished from all other persons. While living in the 
flesh in the presence of men he performed every conceivable 
work possible to be performed by a man living in the flesh, to 
show and demonstrate the dominion of the spirit over 
matter. It only remained for him to demonstrate the sur- 
vival and power of his spirit after his dead body had 
been laid in the tomb. On earth laws are enacted by 
nations and administered by the courts for the government 
of men in relation to their earthly affairs. Without the 
laws of the civil state and the machinery for administering and 
applying the laws, we could not be protected in our person or 
our property. The laws of the state regulate men individually 
and collectively as to their relations 'in all matters that pertain 
to this life. Civil law is intended to harmonize with the laws of 
nature and the common reason of mankind. The courts of the 
state will not permit any witness to testify to any statements 
made by a dead man. When once the death of a man is proven, 
no evidence can be given as to any acts or statements made by 
him after his death. That which is supernatural is beyond the 
jurisdiction of civil authority. The evidence which pertains to 
the supernatural is admissible in a higher court where the ad- 
mission of evidence is not excluded by the iron clad rules ap- 
plied in determining the things that belong to Caesar and the 
subjects of his state. The resurrection of a man from the dead, 
is not a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of civil author- 
ity. The truth or falsity of an event which rises above what we 
call nature and enters the domain of the supernatural, must be 
determined by a tribunal of the hearts and minds of mankind 



25 



that admit the evidence and are open to the coviction that comes 
from measuring evidences of the supernatural according to the 
intuitions of man and his capacity for recognizing the hand of 
God in the manifestations of His supremacy over matter. Bear- 
ing in mind the difficulties that confront us in presenting to the 
natural man, evidence of what is supernatural, we are prepared 
to give our unbiased attention to the most marvelous events 
that have marked the history of the human race. 

The Greatest Teacher of Man Reveals a Future Life. 

The greatest Teacher that has yet appeared for man's instruct- 
ion and enlightenment on the future life after death, died upon 
the cross on Mount Calvary in Judea, at a time when Tiberius 
was emperor of Rome and Pontius Pilate the Roman governor 
of Judea. The birth of this divine Master marks the beginning of 
the Christian Era and as we now look at our calendar on the 
wall to learn the date at which the Earth is still rotating on its 
axis, our eyes are cast on the number of years that have elapsed 
since the wise men of the East and the shepherds reverently 
bowed over the infant in the stable at Bethlehem. This infant 
grew in wisdom and stature during a period when Augustus 
Caesar, as Emperor or Rome, exercised jurisdiction over the 
civilized world, Judea being one of his provinces. At a time 
when the Roman empire was waning under the Emperor 
Tiberius, the scepter of Rome still extended over Judea, and the 
Roman governor Pontius Pilate held the credentials that made 
him the ruler of Judea. Judea was so intimately linked to Rome, 
that the revelations from heaven made in Judea, would soon 
find their way to the City that sat on its seven hills. Without 
an army, without a grand array of men of state, but amidst the 
howl of the mob and the jeers of the populace the most mo- 
menous events that have ever affected the mind and heart of 
man, transpired at Jerusalem, when peace prevailed almost en- 
tirely over the civilized world and the veil of the temple was 
rent. We witness a scene of torture and cruelty as we see a 
man bearing the cross to the place of his execution on the 
heights of Golgotha. At Golgotha we are filled with horror as 
we look upon the man of sorrows writhe in agony amid the 
jeers and scoffs of a frenzied mob. The tragic scenes culminate 
in death and the liberation of the spirit. The dead man was 
well known to many persons who walked with him on earth, 
listened to his words of wisdom and witnessed the marvelous 
works which he performed. The dead body was removed from 
the cross, and by order of Pilate, was delivered to a man, look- 
ing for the kindom of God, named Joseph. Mary Magdalene 
and Mary, mother of Joseph, with others beheld where and how 
the body was placed in the stone sepulcher. The women re- 



26 



turned from the sepulcher and prepared spices and ointment, but 
the next day, being the Sabbath, they rested, according to the 
commandment. Early the following morning, being the first 
day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to 
the sepulcher, but to their amazement the sepulcher was vacant 
and the body not there. As the women hasten to tell Peter and 
the other apostles who were assembled in a secluded place in 
Jerusalem in fear of the enraged populace, Jesus appears to 
Mary Magdalene and tells her to inform the apostles that they 
shall see Him in Galilee. Mary Magdalene and Johanna and 
Mary mother of James and other women tell these things to the 
apostles; but their words seemed to the apostles an idle tale and 
they did not believe the women. But Peter rising up, ran to 
the sepulcher and saw that the body was not there. He went 
away wondering in himself at what had come to pass. On the 
same day Cieophas and a companion, disciples of Christ, were 
walking on the way from Jerusalem to a small town, called 
Emmaus, and as they journeyed along conversing and reasoning 
about the things that had happened concerning Jesus of Nazareth, 
a stranger joins them in their walk and questions them about the 
matter of their conversation. They tell him that certain women 
say that Jesus is alive and that some of our own people went to 
the sepulcher and found it to be so. Towards evening the trav- 
elers reach the town and at table the stranger breaks bread 
and gave the two to eat. Their eyes were opened and they knew 
him to be Jesus. Jesus vanishes. The same hour the two trav- 
elers return to Jerusalem and find the eleven apostles gathered 
together. They tell the eleven that Jesus has appeared to them 
and to Simon. They relate the events of their journey, the things 
that Jesus said to them and His breaking of bread. Whilst the 
two messengers were narrating what they had heard and seen 
to the apostles, Jesus appeared in their midst and to allay their 
fears said: "Peace be with you; it is I, fear not." They supposed 
that they saw a spirit. He said "See my hands and my feet, that 
it is myself: For a spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me 
to have." He showed them his hands and feet, yet they believed 
not and wondered for joy. He said have you any thing to eat? 
They offered him of broiled fish and honey comb. He ate be- 
fore them and gave them the remains. He opened their 
understanding that they might understand the scriptures, The 
eleven disciples went unto the mountain in Galilee where Jesus 
had appointed them, and seeing him they adored. But some 
boubted. Thomas, the most incredulous, was conviced when 
Jesus exhibited to him the wounds inflicted at the crucifiction, 
and asked Thomas to place his fingers in the openings where the 



27 



nails and lance let out the life blood. Jesus did many other 
things before the eyes of the apostles which are not recorded, 
but sufficient facts, from the peculiar mysteries that guard the 
secret signals forming the medium of intelligence between the 
living and the dead, have been stated or inferred by the brief 
gospel records handed down to us. While, from the very nature 
of the subject, a greater detail of the resurrenction might tend 
rather to confuse than to open our minds to an understanding 
of what to us is now the silent unseen, yet the all important and 
vital fact which we anxiously await is the verdict of that select 
body of men who gave their ears, eyes, intellects, hearts and un- 
derstanding to all the evidence submitted to them in arriving at 
the real truth of the resurrection. We await a message from 
the grave. The men who lived with Jesus on earth, are ap- 
pointed to receive this message and to proclaim it to the men of 
earth. We know what the verdict is. That verdict is clear and 
decisive. No limitation, condition or ambiguity accompanies it. 
The verdict is "Christ is Risen." The evidence submitted to the 
apostles was so convincing that doubting Thomas exclaimed, "My 
Lord and my God." We, of today were not permitted to wit- 
ness the wonderful manifestations that gave to the apostles an 
abiding faith in the resurrection. But we have' before us the 
test of that faith. The test of that faith was suffering, torture 
and death. In the face of the severest persecution that could be 
devised by man to induce and compel the apostles to deny the 
resurrection, they and each of them steadfastly declared their 
faith in Christ and his resurrection even when the instrument of 
death was raised over their heads or the death blow given 
in the effort to secure a denial of that faith. In vain were all 
the powers of state and mob violence brought to bear in shutting 
out humanity from the great truth of the Resurrection. The 
powers of darkness in these modern days of boasted progress, 
by insinuating allusions to superstition and ignorance among 
the followers of Christ, endeavor to class the resurrection with 
other myths of ancient days. Men would be gods and in order 
to show forth their superior knowledge above their ancestors 
and to become heroes in novel changes of thought, they become 
iconoclasts and endeavor to discredit the very foundations of 
Christianity and to demolish the throne of God Himself. In 
time such perverters of the truth are sure to drop by the way- 
side in the onward march of God-fearing men filled with the love 
of God and proclaiming the revelation, "Christ Is Risen." No mat- 
ter how complete and authentic might be the evidence establishing 
the truth of the resurrection, it could not find its way into the 
minds that have entered the lofty atmosphere of the higher 



28 



criticism or modern transcendentalism. They become too ethereal 
or sink too deep into monkeydom to admit any evidence offered 
in proof of the resurrection. Starting with the apostles and 
taking the wings of time down through the centuries, amid dis- 
senting Christian organizations and the jeers of unbelievers, we 
see a most remarkable unanimity of belief in the resurrection 
among all believers in Christ. 

The living generation of today, as it moves on the mighty 
wave of the present, solemnly looks into the future and wonders 
what is in store for the soul after death. Every faculty of the 
mind and emotional fountain of the heart is summoned to the 
front to bring about a solution of the momentous problem of the 
existence and condition of the soul in that land from which no 
traveler has returned in person to give us an account of his 
sojourn. Anxiously we fix our gaze into the moments and years 
that await us in the to-morrows and the history yet to be made 
by unborn millions. Our continued peering into the future un- 
locks no doors that open to us the mansions of immortality. 
Well it is for us to be shut out from a knowledge of certain 
things that tomorrow will reveal. 

The Past Events Disclose Immortality In Man— The Soul's Endless Life. 

But let us now turn our eyes from the future and gather in- 
spiration by looking into the wonderful revelations unfolded 
and worked out in the long march of the human race from the 
time the birds of paradise sang to the first man and woman until 
the man on Eiffel tower received a wireless message of distress 
from the unfortunate mariner a thousand miles away on the 
trackless ocean. Transporting ourselves back to the beginning 
of the roll of years that broke into the tide of time when man 
inaugurated his active career on earth, we watch the launching 
of the first bark of flesh and bones that was put afloat on the 
ceaseless flow of the centuries. As we sweep down the current, 
the old barks disappear, only to be replaced by new barks that 
ever keep within our view the life boats that rescue the human 
family. In the mountains and in the valleys we hear the voices 
of sages, philosophers and prophets proclaiming the immortality 
of the soul and uttering warnings of the dangers that im- 
peril the souls of those who carelessly or willfully suffer their 
barks to drift among the rocks and sandbars of the stream that 
flows into the ocean of eternity. As we float down the stream 
we emerge from the lands in which the most intellectual and 
wisest men of ancient days earnestly declared their fixed belief 
in the existence of the conscious soul after the mortal coil in 
which it dwells on earth shall crumble to earth, and we rejoice 



29 



as we enter on that sacred ground where we behold Jesus of 
Nazareth rising triumphantly out of the grave to confirm the 
truth of the existence of that intelligence and power that sur- 
vives in the conscious soul after earth has claimed the bodily re- 
mains. The tide of years carries us beyond the tragedy of the 
cross and the glorious resurrection until we find ourselves 
listening to the voice of the apostles as they announce to suffer- 
ing humanity the glad tidings of a message from the land of 
immortality beyond the grave where the soul shall forever live 
conscious of its existence in the freedom of God's boundless 
universe. Through the words, acts, toils and sacrifices of the 
apostles in bringing their fellow men into the light of the Gos- 
pel, a new era was inaugurated in which rejoicing hosts of human- 
ity clearly recognized a land of promise where mortality is un- 
known and the soul shall dwell conscious of itself, conscious of 
association with kindred souls that once lived in mortal bodies 
on earth, conscious of the marvelous universe and conscious of 
the presence of the Great Father of all whose bountiful hand 
will supply in the fullest measure the longings of the human 
heart. The pagan mind darkened by the veil of matter and 
rendered adverse to innovations of a new doctrine, resisted the 
endeavor of the apostles and their adherents to unfold the reve- 
lations of the Incarnation and to reveal their meeting with One 
who had arisen from the grave, to instruct his disciples on the 
Mount in Galilee. But the arguments and testimony of the 
apostles and their successors were irresistible and edifices dedi- 
cated to the sacred truths taught and exemplified by Him whose 
sacred feet trod the banks of the Jordon, rapidly multiplied, on 
the mountain sides and in the valleys. 

Passing through the centuries we witness the constantly in- 
creasing number of church steeples pointing to the transfigura- 
tion of the mortal into the immortal. Now as we are elevated 
to the crest of the present wave of time, we gather inspiration, 
as we see the thousands of churches of Christian worship 
in the most enlightened nations of the world. As our men- 
tal vision bears us, in rapid transit, over the invincible 
nations of Europe, over the still benighted dominions of 
Asia and Africa and over the whole Western Continent from the 
Arctic Ocean to Cape Horn, and as we voyage along the coast 
lines of the grand divisions of both hemispheres, we become pro- 
foundly impressed with the miraculous development of the doc- 
trine of Man's immortality as recognized among all ages and na- 
tions and now confirmed and celebrated as evidenced by the an- 
nual festival of Easter in every land under the shining sun. 



30 



Although now and then there comes a lapse in the minds of men 
in high places and .famous seats of learning, which causes con- 
sternation and a gloom of doubt to enter the sacred precincts of 
many contented souls. Forgetful of the overwhelming evidence 
which has planted the doctrine of immortality and the inspiring 
truth of the resurrection in the minds and hearts of the truly 
great and good men of the foremost nations of earth, certain 
inflated scientists entangled in a net of illusions, announce a dis- 
covery that makes Christianity a mere superstition and Christ a 
myth. But the mesmeric spell is broken, and we find those who 
have wandered into the wilderness of a false science or an 
empty modernism, gladly returning to the altar above which is in- 
scribed "Death is but a change which is the beginning of a life in 
which death will be unknown. Christ is risen and his resurec- 
tion reveals the truth of the transfiguration that takes place 
when this mortal puts on immortality." 

"The body," says St. Paul, "is sown in corruption, it shall 
rise in incorruption; it is sown in disorder, it shall rise in glory; 
it is sown in weakness, it shall rise in power; it is sown a 
natural body, it shall rise a spiritual body — for this corruptible 
shall put on incorruption; and this mortal shall put on immor- 
tality. But when this mortal shall have put on immortality, 
that shall be brought to pass which is written: Death is swal- 
lowed up in victory." 

The Attitude of the Mind of Man to His Creator has an Important Bearing 
in Leading to a Conviction in the Immortality of the Soul. 

After having confirmed our belief in the existence of an 
infinite Intelligence and Power that maintains and keeps in 
operation the myriads of orbs and countless systems of worlds 
which combine to form the universe; after having drawn the 
line of demarkation distinguishing mind from matter and after 
having brought to light the belief of the immortality of the soul 
in the master minds of departed generations, thus linking the ages 
of the past with the present age in an unbroken chain of belief * 
in the continued existence of the soul after the body has crumbled 
in the grave, we are yet unable to convince many men of today 
that the soul is immortal. Not only are there large numbers of 
men who entertain serious doubts as to the never ending life of 
the soul beyond the tomb, but on every hand we meet with 
individuals who assert that the soul is extinguished when the 
breath of life leaves the body and that nothing will remain of 
man to think a thought or to experience a thrill of affection or 
love in the revolving years after this mortal coil disappears from 



31 

earth. These doubts and denial of the ceaseless life of the soul 
are not even removed by any revelations coming from God, Him- 
self, speaking through the medium of real human forms of flesh 
and blood. The overwhelming evidence of a voice from the 
Most High revealing to man through the incarnation, a message 
from Heaven, is not heeded. The testimony of the noblest men 
that have ever walked upon the earth, is cast aside as supersti- 
tion. Divine revelations are scoffed at. Human testimony is 
rejected with a sneer. What strange inconsistencies and con- 
tradictions we find in the minds of men! 

Man is a Marvelously Complex Being. 

"How poor, how rich, how abject, how august, 
How complicate, how wonderful, is man! 
How passing wonder, is He who made him such, 
Who centred in our make suck strange extremes, 
From different natures, marvelously mixed, 
Connection exquisite of distant worlds! 
Distinguished link in beings endless chain, 
Mid way from nothing to the Deity! 
A beam ethereal, sullied, and absorpt! 
Though sullied and dishonored, still divine! 
Dim miniature of greatness absolute! 
An heir of glory! A frail child of dust! 
Helpless, immortal! insect Infinite! 
A worm! a god! — I tremble at myself, 
And in myself am lost, At home a stranger! 
Thought wanders up and down, surprised, aghast, 
And wondering at her own. How reason reels! 
O, what a miracle to man is man! 

Triumphantly distressed! What joy! What dread! 

Alternately transported and alarmed! 

What can preserve my life? or what destroy? 

An angel's arm can't snatch me from the grave; 

Legions of angels can't confine me there." 



32 



We Venture from Home and are Lost in the Wilderness. 

If we wander from our homes nestled amid their familiar 
surroundings and stray into strange regions on this kindly earth, 
we are liable to lose our bearings. In our confusion we no longer 
are assured of the cardinal points and have no means at hand 
to determine the direction homeward. Our minds are brought 
to the test and we are made aware that a search must be made 
for a light, more permanent than the mountains, that will illumi- 
nate the pathway to our homes. The daylight has vanished. 
The large full moon slumbers on the horizon. We observe the 
stars promiscuously scattered over the strange blue sky. The 
whole order of nature seems reversed. The sun seemed to have 
changed its course and the moon appeared to have drifted en- 
tirely away from its accustomed location on the herizon. There 
is a discoverable harmony in all nature about us, but our per- 
turbed state of mind distorts our vision and we fail to see the 
natural order and relative positions of well known stars and the 
constellations into which they are grouped. We cease our wander- 
ing and pause to bring together our rambling thoughts into the 
calm harbor of reflection. By the mere sense of sight we might 
have walked on and on only to perish in our vain attempt to 
reach home were it not for the aid of a reflective and reasoning 
mind. In the proper state of mind our eyes survey the celestial 
hosts while the knowledge of the past is brought into requision. 

We Seek for Guide Lights to Discover Our Way Homeward. 

As our eyes move about the heavens our reflective minds 
discern certain familiar stars and groups of stars. We begin to 
realize that the same galaxy of twinkling stars now shines above 
us that we often beheld on many a happy night in our dear old 
homes. In our eager search of the heavens we lose sight of 
earthly surroundings. Strange as it may seem, every group of 
stars appearing in the canopy of blue, serves as beacon lights 
directing us to the star of hope. Our eyes are now directed to 
a small cluster of seven stars, which we recognize as the Pleiades 
that form a part of the constellation, Taurus. Turning our eyes 
to another part of the sky we see three familiar stars that adorn 
the belt of Orion. As we eagarly pass from star to star and 
and trace the lines connecting the most brilliant orbs we be- 
come amply rewarded by the forms of beauty that enter into our 
souls. Our fingers point to the Square of Pegasus and a line of 
stars extending from one angle of the Square. Inspiration and 



33 



hope awaken within us for we are becoming more and more 
assured that we are approaching the star that will lead us out of 
the wilderness. We see a sign in the heavens. Our trained eyes 
now venture to another region of the marvelous expanse of the 
celestial realms. Something extraordinary now fills us with 
happy emotions. A deep silence seems to pervade the whole 
universe as we intently mark out the outlines of yonder con- 
stellation of stars that will guide us with absolute certaintity to 
the star that will banish all our doubts and worry as to the true 
way that will lead us to our homes. Standing out in bold relief 
four bright stars give us that very form of the Great Dipper so 
familiar to us in our joyful homes. See the other three stars ex- 
tending from the cup to form the handle of the dipper. Truly 
we have discovered that constellation of stars, called the Great 
Bear. In the latitude of our northern homes the Great Bear 
never sinks below the horizon, but is in plain view all hours of 
the night and on every night of the year continuously swings 
around a central star. What a grand sight that enormous dipper 
presents in the clear blue sky. 

Two Remarkable Guiding Stars Appear. 

Do you see those two stars at the end of the cup of the dip- 
per? It is most important that those two stars should receive 
our marked attention. While standing in the open yard of our 
homes how often have we wonderingly fixed our eyes on yonder 
two guiding stars! The importance of those two stars grows 
out of the fact that they point to the very object of our search 
among the countless hosts of the sky. They have received the 
appellation "The Pointers." Following the line of the two point- 
ers, starting with the star at the bottom of the dipper, our eyes 
follow the line until they rest upon a clearly defined star around 
which the Great Bear makes its daily circuit. We have now 
come to a star in which we can see no motion. 

Our Eyes are Led to the Star that Points Out Our Homeward Way. 

We see all the other stars moving in a circuit in the heav- 
ens Not so with this star. However long we watch it through 
the hours of the night, there it remains as unmovable as the rock 
of Gibraltar. No matter to what part of the northern hemis- 
phere we may wander that is the one star that never changes its 
position. Although we experienced thrills of joy as we winged 
our way among the encircling spheres, yet we longed to fix our 
eyes on a light that remains stationary every moment of the day 
and night and that has remained unmoved during the changes 



34 



that have taken place in all the ages of man's existence. We are 
now certain that we stand facing the north, that our right hands 
stretch to the east, our left hands to the west and that our backs 
are turned to the south. We now feel nearer our homes than 
at any time in our wanderings. Southward we direct our steps 
with an abiding belief that we will reach our longed for homes. 
But we must beware that we do not lose our bearings. Stead- 
fastly must we keep in mind the position of the Polar Star as 
our footsteps are pressing homeward. If we grow indifferent 
and carelessly move onward, we will again wander back into the 
wilderness. While we are moving among earthly objects, we 
must ever bear in mind that there is a guiding light in the 
mansions of the sky which we dare not ignore if we would con- 
tinue in the safe pathway to the land of promise. 

God's Guides in the Sky Direct us Out of the Wilderness. 

In our bewilderment we were brought to a realization of 
the necessity of searching out God's ways as marked out in the 
heavens if we wished to save our earthly lives and return to the 
land of our fathers. And having followed the lights of the 
celestial guides, we are reminded that we can not abandon these 
illuminated ways above and hope to reach our peaceful homes 
by confining our thoughts and hearts to all things earthly. 

Weary of our long tramp by day and well into the night, we 
encamp under the canopy of a friendly oak tree. Before retir- 
ing we set stakes in line with the North Star to make sure of 
our due course to the South Slumbering in the wilderness, we 
dream of home associations. As the day begins to dawn we 
catch glimpses of the advancing light. The sable goddess of 
night withdraws as the rosy morn steals over the distant hills. 
We eagerly watch the increasing illumination on the far away 
horizon that we may mark the true location of the rising Sun. 
Bearing in mind all things that point to the Polar Star, we bend 
our steps southward until the wilderness fades behind us and 
we emerge into a land in which our minds harmonize with the 
groups of celestial lights, and the North Star is never lost from 
view. Our hearts are filled with gratitude to the invisible Wis- 
dom that held forth the lights which guided us out of the in- 
hospitable wilds. How marvelously the mind is endowed to 
come in touch with the instrumentalities in nature, that will save 
thd body from destruction. But the will of man must direct the 
operations of the endowments of his mind and the promptings 
of his heart to reap the golden harvest. 



35 



In the Spiritual World We Must Follow the Guide Lights that Lead 
to immortality. 

As it becomes essential to trace out the course of nature in 
order to place our bodies in harmony with the material elements 
and worlds about us and thus secure the highest efficiency and 
the accomplishment of good for which the body is designed, so 
it becomes essential for us to follow the order of highest de- 
velopment in the spiritual world if we would come to a knowl- 
edge of the spirit and the conditions of mind and heart which 
combine to put to flight all doubts and denials of the unending 
life of the soul and to establish a firm belief in man's immortal- 
ity. As we search the heavens to familiarize ourselves with the 
relations in which the constellations of stars stand to each 
other, at all times to get our true position on the earth, so we 
must search the the constellations of virtues which men must 
follow in the spiritual universe in order that we may attain the 
highest excellence and bring to light the guiding star which we 
may follow to our immortal home. The stars in the spiritual 
firmament are invisible, yet as real as the visible stars in the 
material universe. 

When we enter that world that deals with mind or soul, we 
give our attention to existences that are not seen with bodily 
eyes. Now instead of looking into the material universe and 
fixing our eyes on forms of earthly objects and orbs of diversified 
magnitude and brilliancy in the overhanging vault of blue, we 
fix our attention on the soul which operates through a 
material body and by virtue of its miraculous powers 
gains admission to the Great Spirit which moves and operates 
through the universe. We are now seeking these spiritual 
lights which will lead us to the all Wise who will reveal to us 
the immortality of the soul. In this universe of mind we enter 
the higher life where we acquaint ourselves with the master 
powers of the soul that enable it to reason, understand, remem- 
ber, feel, love, will and become conscious of all the operations 
of the spirit. 

Right Living Clears our Insight into Things Immortal. 

A belief in immortality depends greatly on the conduct of 
life and the movements of the mind in following the order of 
those constellations of spiritual orbs which lead to the Star 
of Hope and give us the cardinal points which enable us to 
move onward to the goal of life everlasting. There was 
a time when we had implicit belief in God and in the life that 
never ends. In the innocence and simplicity of our hearts, 



36 



we felt that God was everywhere — in our homes, in all the earth 
and in the heavens above. In our thoughts, there was no end 
to life, no end to our conscious, continued existence. In our 
souls we did not harbor even an intimation that we should ever 
die. Even when we looked upon a dead body, we still thought 
of the person as a living spirit, and death merely as a sleep. We 
were in the home of our heavenly Father and being in his image 
we were assured that we would live with him forever. There 
was a time when we could not sleep if we had neglected to raise 
our hearts to our Creator in humble prayer. 

We Venture From the Home of Our Heavenly Father and are Lost. 

But as years rolled on, we ventured from the home of a 
most loving Father and strayed into the dark regions of intem- 
perance, falsehood, licentiousness, ingratitude, pride, hatred and 
rebellion against the very Author of our being. We shamefully 
rejected and wantonly destroyed the abundant blessings He so 
lovingly bestowed upon us. We renounced our allegiance to our 
great Benefactor, to become followers of the gods of iniquity. 
We have lost the home of our Father. No longer are our eyes 
fixed on immortality. We are now aimlessly wandering in the 
vast wilderness without a guide to direct out weary steps home- 
ward. If we will only make a proper use of the powers imparted 
to our minds by our Creator, we shall escape from this wilder- 
ness of doubt and despair. Elevating our eyes above this ap- 
palling region of stagnant pools, seething swamps and revolting 
corruption which fill the soul with horrors and fear, we search 
for a ray of hope in the spiritual skies. We look for the con- 
stellations of those spiritual stars that were so familiar to us 
when we dwelt in the innocence and simplicity of our early 
lives at the home of our kind Father. 

Familiar Lights Above Bring a Feeling of Relief. 

A feeling of relief comes over us as we familiarize ourselves 
with the pure orbs in the vast field of blue and as we gradually 
recognize the separate groups of bright stars. In yonder sky 
we behold a remarkable group of charming lights. That group 
is so related to the other groups of celestial spheres, as to form 
an important link in the grand union of all the clusters of stars 
that serve as guides in leading the soul out the of the wilderness 
of spiritual darkness. 



37 



Among the Celestial Groups of Stars we see the Constellation, Temperance. 

Our spirtual eyes are now fixed on the constellation, Tem- 
perance. In this assembly of bright stars we learn, by close 
observation, the necessity of restraining our desires for food 
and drink in harmony with the dictates of reason and the 
promptings of conscience. As we now stand in the awful wilder- 
ness into which we have strayed by heeding the beckonings of 
carnal desires, our souls awaken to the true position that tem- 
perance occupies as a guide light in the spirit world to the 
permanent star of hope from which we may learn the true course 
to our immortal home. We draw the contrast between temper- 
ance and intemperance and we are made aware of the sad con- 
sequences resulting from gluttonous eating, intoxicating drinks 
and use of narcotic poisons. Shame steals over us as we recall 
the slime in which we willfully wallowed by yielding to the in- 
temperate use of food, drink and drugs. The longer our eyes 
dwell on the constellation Temperance, the more is the love of 
that virtue entwined about our hearts, and the more do we 
perceive that we must follow that constellation in conjunction 
with other noble virtues, if we wish to escape from a godless 
wilderness. In the wilderness of intemperance, by our own 
conduct, we deface and pollute the body and dethrone our 
reason. We are amazed at the increasing numbers now moving 
on in confusion to the mad house. They are too far away to 
direct their attention to the saving virtues. 

Why not make temperance a constellation firmly fixed in 
the sky of our souls as a light beckoning us on to the truth of 
immortality? What stupidity in man to admit into his stomach 
that which is well known to rob him of his reason! Temper- 
ance places us in a stand point of view from which we see har- 
mony, beauty and good in God's creation, causing a fountain of 
love to spring up in our hearts. How our happiness increases 
as we clearly mark out in our souls the true relation which 
temperance bears to the continuous constellations of virtues 
that conduct us away from the mortal to the immortal. The 
practice of temperance will strengthen us to such a degree as to 
enable us to leap over dark chasms which have seemed im- 
passable. The spiritual skies contain a most beautiful and har- 
moniours combination of continuous stars which go to make up 
the beauty and symmetry of the spiritual heavens. 



38 



We Now Turn Our Eyes to an Angelic Group, Chastity. 

Turning from the constellation Temperance, our spiritual 
eyes see a most beautiful sister constellation in another part of 
the celestial regions. Look at yonder assembly of pure bright 
stars. How charmingly they adorn the spiritual sky! How we 
rejoice to behold such exquisite purity in that blessed group of 
angelic orbs! That constellation is Chastity. Neither adultery 
nor fornication is permitted to blight that charming family. 
Prostitution hides its face in shame when confronted by this 
glory of the heavens. When man abuses that sacred power be- 
stowed on him by his Creator to perpetuate the human family, 
the most appalling consequences follow. Although man is com- 
manded to increase and multiply on the face of the earth yet the 
crime of violating the laws of nature, the laws of the state and 
the command of God in converting the sacred relations between 
the sexes into dens of prostitution and. slums of social evil is 
sure to bring ruin, despair and death on the perpetrators. The 
social evil of sexual iniquity so filled Sodom and Gomorrah with 
dark corruption that the earth trembled at the blackness of the 
crime and in a mighty earthquake engulfed these two cities with 
all their inhabitants in order to purge this fair world of the 
shocking scenes of brazen licentiousness. Even to-day we wit- 
ness an alarming condition of society. From the slums of in- 
temperance and from the Sodoms and Gomorrahs of licentious- 
ness, we see men and women in amazing thousands marching 
into the swamps of loathsome disease, pauperism, insanity and 
death. Do we wonder that such wanton violations of the 
virtues of Temperance and Chastity result in a wilderness of 
doubts and denials of man's immortality? 

Our Progress is Rewarded by a View of the Constellation, Charity. 

Again let us turn our eyes from man's evil ways on earth 
and look into the heavens for another constellation that will 
throw more light on the continuous life of the soul after death. 
In yonder great constellation of brilliant orbs we discern a most 
far reaching illumination which serves to open the way of the 
progressive mind to the goal of belief in unending life. That 
constellation removes the darkness hanging over many wide 
chasms that obstructed the onward movement of the mind to a 
conscious existence that will continue while the years of eternity 
roll. This constellation covers a vast region and is of inestim- 
able importance to the general welfare and happiness of the 
human family. A feeling of inspiration and joy transports us to 



39 



a higher life as our eyes gather in that magnanimous group of 
stars, designated as Charity. What miracles Charity works in 
the soul! "Charity is patient, is kind; Charity envieth not, is not 
puffed up, is not ambitious; seeketh not her own; is not pro- 
voked to anger; thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but 
rejoiceth with the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, 
endureth all things." These lovely orbs in the constellation, 
Charity, act as ministering angels to each other to promote the 
highest happiness in every individual. In our souls is impressed 
the lesson that we must administer to each other in every way 
to cultivate the tree of happiness in each of us; to put the best 
construction on the words and actions of others and extend our 
charity to the most uncharitable. We need to pour the oil of 
reformation and relief into the wounds of our unfortunate and 
afflicted fellow beings. The crums that we cast upon the waters 
will bring to us in return a thousand fold and will remove 
from our souls much of the darkness which obstructs our 
insight into the ways of God and into his immortal image in 
our souls. 

"Charity itself fulfills the law, 
And who can sever love from Charity; 
Soft peace she brings wherever she arrives; 
She builds our quiet as she forms our lives; 
Lays the rough paths of peevish Nature even, 
And opens in each heart a little Heaven." 

" 'Tis a little thing 
To give a cup of water; yet its draugt 
Of cool refreshment, drained by fevered lips, 
May give a shock of pleasure to the frame, 
More exquisite than when nectarian juice 
Revives the life of joy in happiest hours." 

As each constellation of spiritual lights is recognized and 
plays an active part in the onward progress of the soul, the 
pathway to our immortal home becomes more and more illumi- 
nated and the signals which indicate immortality become 
more apparent. 



40 



Onward We Move to the Meek and Lowly, Group, Humility. 

After taking a long observation of Charity, and after having 
taken a careful survey of its important position in lighting the 
way to the goal for which we are now striving, we turn our eyes 
to what seems to be a meek and lowly part of the spiritual 
firmament. What is that cluster of dim orbs far away in yonder 
distant sky? Bring to our aid the spiritual telescope that we 
may obtain a more perfect view of each star in that important, 
but unassuming constellation through which we must move in 
our continuous march to the light in which we shall behold in 
golden letters across the heavens, "immortal Life." Steadily we 
fix our eyes on each dim orb through the telescope and the 
great truth dawns upon us that we are now penetrating into one 
of the great mysteries that obscured our view in searching out 
the ways that lead us out of a temporal kingdom into an eternal 
kingdom. That group of lights is, Humility. Each light seems to 
shine at the very feet of our eternal Father. We are made to 
realize that "Every best gift, and every perfect gift is from above, 
coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no 
change, nor shadow of alteration." We perceive that, 

"Lowliness is the base of every virtue 

And he who goes the lowest, builds the safest." 

"The higher a man is in grace, the lower he will be 
in his own esteem." 

Placing ourselves spiritually in the very depths of the con- 
stellation, humility, each of us sees his diminutive self and is 
thus enabled to make a just estimate of himself in his relation to 
his God and in relation to God's creatures. If we but turn our 
eyes to the wilderness in which we have strayed, we become 
amazed to see pride haughtily stalking abroad. 

"Of all the causes which conspire to blind 
Man's erring judgment and misguide the mind, 
What the weak head with the strongest bias rules, 
Is Pride, the never failing vice of fools." 

"Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom; neither let the 
mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his 
riches." "The lofty looks of man shall be humbled and the 
haughtiness of man shall be bowed low." "Pride goeth before 
destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." 



41 



We Have Advanced to a Steadfast Constellation, Perseverance. 

Being well impressed with the significance of the constella- 
tion Humility, in forming a continous route to the light of im- 
mortality, we venture through the blue vault to another con- 
stellation. There appears before our wondering eyes a very 
long procession of stars that shine with a light remarkably stead- 
fast. They seem to form a long and continuous chain of beacon 
lights in the sky. This constellation, from its very appearance, 
suggests its name, Perseverance. The longer we keep our eyes 
upon this far extending group, the more are we convinced that a 
persistent, patient unfolding of the noblest powers of the soul, 
will bring to light, faith in immortality. To attain the highest 
good and the most worthy achievements of human life, requires 
a persistent and constant flight of the mind in the spiritual skies 
through constellations of stars that rise progressively into the 
regions that are filled with suggestions of Eternity. 

'Attempt the end and never stand in doubt: 
Nothing is so hard, but search will find it out." 

As we steadfastly continue our course through the endless 
orbs of perseverance, we feel within ourselves two opposing 
dominions. The one is ruled by the light of the spirit, the other 
is dominated by the darkness of the flesh. "Walk in the spirit 
and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. For the flesh 
lusteth against the spirit; and the spirit against the flesh; for 
these are contrary one to another. So that you do not the 
things that you would. But if you are led by the spirit you are 
not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, 
which are fornication, uncleanness, immodesty, luxury, idolatry, 
witchcrafts, enmities, contentions, emulations, wraths, quarrels, 
dissensions, sects, envies, murders, drunkenness, reveling, and 
such like of which I foretell you, that they who do such things 
shall not obtain the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit 
is charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, 
mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity. Against such 
there is no law." With our minds and hearts well fixed on the 
constellations of the spiritual skies and well fortified against the 
seductive powers of darkness, we shall now elevate our eyes to 
further advancement of spiritual progress. As we perform our 
part in this grand march to higher view points of the land of the 
immortals, we become conscious of a kindly light that seems 
to lead us on. 



4 



42 



"Lead kindly light, amid the encircling gloom, 

Lead Thou me on! 
The night is dark and I am far from home, 

Lead Thou me on, 
Keep Thou my feet; I do not wish to see 
The distant scene, — one step enough for me. 
I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou 

Shouldst lead me on; 
I loved to choose and see my path, but now 

Lead Thou me on! 
I loved the garish day, and spite of fears, 
Pride ruled my will; remember not past years. 
So long Thy power hath blessed me, sure it still 

Will lead me on, 
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent till 

The night is gone; 
And with the morn those angel faces smile, 
Which I loved long since, and lost awhile." 

We Now Joyfully Look upon the Glowing Orbs of HOPE. 

Look far away in yonder sky. What an inspiring group of 
glowing orbs! Behold what a consistent and harmonious ar- 
rangement of those radiant stars! The very light emanating 
from each orb and the concordant relation in which all the orbs 
stand to each other, convince us that we are about to be ad- 
mitted into a vision of immortal life. We now realize that we 
are looking into the constellation, Hope. Mark those two stars 
on the upper right hand border of this remarkable constellation. 
My finger now directs you to them. Those two stars are the 
pointers. As we follow the line of those two stars new inspira- 
tions awaken in our breasts. 

"A heavenly hope is all serene; 
But earthly hope, how bright so e'r 
Still fluctuates o'er the changing scene, 
As false and fleeting as 'tis fair." 

"Behind the cloud the star light lurks, 
Through showers the sun beams fall; 
For God who loveth all his works 
Hath left His hope with all. 1 ' 



43 



The Longings of our Hearts have Reached the Star of Faith. 

As we follow in the line of those two pointers in the con- 
stellation, hope, our eyes are arrested by a fixed star that does 
not change its position in the heavens as do all other stars. 
No matter to what part of the northern wilderness we may stray 
in our earthly wanderings, that star ever remains in view. 
That abiding star is Faith. In diligently and patiently search- 
ing out and following the constellations that combine to com- 
plete the way of the spiritual heavens through which the image 
of God in man rises to a recognition of a heavenly Father, we 
are at last permitted, assisted by an unseen Hand, to gain a 
clear and distinct view of the star of Faith. In this star we 
see a solution of the abstruse problems that baffled our reason. 
Every constellation of orbs in the spiritual skies contributed 
in wafting our minds onward to the star of Faith. In our 
long and perilous journey in the wilderness, as we traced 
each heavenly virtue among the groups of celestial lights, we 
realized more and more, the marvelous endownments bestowed 
upon us by a benevolent Father and the abundent blessings 
flowing from His goodness, so little understood and appre- 
ciated by us. We stand amazed at the ingratitude of our 
hearts. Humiliated we see the littleness of our proud selves 
and with penitent souls bow in recognition of our Creator, 
asking His forgiveness. The ordeals of our perilous wander- 
ings have brought us hungry, naked and helpless to the very 
threshold of the home of our loving Father. Through all the 
toils, misfortunes and sufferings of this earthly pilgrimage, we 
are brought to a full realization of our dependence on the 
Almighty. As the light dawns upon us there comes into our 
hearts a love for our fellow beings and a fond sympathy for 
them in their strenuous struggle in this life. We become true 
brothers and sisters deeply grieved at each others misfortunes 
and sins and the love of our hearts goes out for every member 
of the human family. Recognizing the same heavenly Father 
and conscious of his love manifested in the heavens and en- 
twined about our hearts, we exclaim, "Bless the Lord, O, my 
soul and never forget all that He hath done for thee." A con- 
viction steals upon us that a sincere and worthy petition to 
the great Master will receive recognition. "The Lord is nigh 
to all them that call upon Him; to all that call upon Him in 
truth." 



44 



He will do the will of them that fear Him and He will hear their 
prayers and save them." The movement of the mind and heart 
through the good and wonders of God's creation awakens in the 
soul new experiences which reveal a conscious feeling of im- 
mortality which cold reason can not disclose. "Faith is a higher 
faculty than reason." 

"Faith is the subtle chain which binds us to the infinite; the 
voice of a deep life within that will remain until we crowd it 
thence." "Faith in God is our beacon light in the storms of life; 
our strength and consolation in the greatest trials." 

"Thus faith and works together grow 
No separate life they e'er can know; 
They're soul and body, hand and heart, 
What God hath joined let no man part" 

"Creator, yes! Thy wisdom and Thy word 

Created me! Thou source of life and good! 

Thou spirit of my spirit, and my Lord! 

Thy light, Thy love in their bright plenitude, 

Filled me with a soul, to spring 

Over the abyss of death, and bade it wear — 

The garments of eternal day, and wing 

Its heavenly flight beyond this little sphere, 

Even to its source — to Thee — its Author there." 

Having Elevated our Minds and Hearts Above the Material World, we Come 
in Touch with God and Feel the Spark of Immortality Within Us. 

The man whose life is in the right and who has communed 
with the good, the true and the beautiful in all nature and has 
permitted the love of his heart to reach out to the unseen Power 
from which all good emanates, must have Faith in the existence 
of an all wise and merciful God. That we may have Faith in the 
immortality of the soul we must rise in spirit above all things 
mortal and come in touch with that which is immortal. Instead 
of keeping our eyes on the fleeting bodies of flesh that suc- 
cessively dissolve and crumble into dust, we must keep our 
spiritual eyes on the souls that make their invisible exit from the 
body to come in companionship with the spirits that never die. 
"If our thoughts do not rise to God whose omniscience is from 
everlasting to everlasting, how can we come in touch with that 
which imparts to us the spark of immortality." We reach our 
heavenly Father by lifting our hearts to him in prayer, 



45 



The Star of Faith and Light of Immortality are Held in View by Prayer. 

Oh, sullen man, arise from thy dark cavern of worldly 
thoughts, and wing thy way into the boundless regions of celes- 
tial light. Look into the heavens and behold the shining orbs ot 
night. Follow yonder planets that make their periodical circuits 
among the belt of stars that shine in the zone of planetary 
orbits. Mark yon comet that has just joined the celestial hosts. 
See that pleasant moon which monthly passes slowly behind a 
dark veil and as often gently removes the veil to cheer the heart 
of man. Unite in one grand march all the shining angels of the 
sky. Look long into and ponder deep this glory of the heavens. 
In the depths of your heart do you not feel intimations of your 
immortality as you see and recognize the marvelous processions 
of the celestials whose luster has not faded since the birds of 
paradise sang to Adam and whose charms will nightly grace the 
vast blue dome as long as man inhabits the earth? Having 
passed through the inspiring scenes of twinkling stars and beam- 
ing moon in their continuous and harmonious movement, the 
scene now begins to change. Look at the twilight in the eastern 
sky. Do you not see the angels of the night taking their flight as 
the rosy morn comes in view? Watch the advance of approach- 
ing day as the luster in the far away east increases. A brilliant 
orb of vast dimensions hangs just below the horizon. Oh, 
heavenly light, what happy emotions dost thou awaken in a lov- 
ing heart! Of all the orbs of night not one could compare in 
brilliancy with yonder orb just crowning the distant mountains. 
With a receptive heart ponder well this morning scene that can 
never fade from your mind. The combined light of the moon 
and all the stars of the night fades into dimness when compared 
to the illumination bounteously poured upon the earth by that 
luminary of the day. Can words describe the glory and grand- 
eur of that brilliant, dazzling Sun now filling the earth with 
song of birds and arousing every creature into joyous life? Oh, 
slothful man, awaken from your slumber and open wide your 
soul for the reception of the blessings that flow from that life- 
giving orb of day which constantly pursues its diurnal course, 
bringing to us the morning and the evening in every turn of the 
earth, as we have witnessed from our infancy to this very morn- 
ing. What wonderful harmony in the worlds above! What 
matchless constancy in the never ending revolution of the un- 
changing spheres! Proud man, be honest with your own heart 
and speak truly. Do you not experience within yourself an im- 
mortal spark that will retain within itself, throughout eternity, a 
conscious remembrance of the nightly orbs that so often moved 
before you in the heavens and the glorious Sun that you looked 
upon in your daily journey on earth? 



46 



Rising Above the Mortal the Soul Catches Gleams of the IMMORTAL 

Oh, selfish man, look into the faces of your countless fellow 
beings. Can you not discover an immortal spark in each in- 
dividual, however mortal his body may appear? Can you not 
feel immortality stir within you as you look into the innocent 
eyes of joyous childhood? As you look into the mind and heart 
of man, endowed with such wonderful intelligence and capacity 
for love, as enable him to join in the march with the countless 
worlds of the universe and to come in touch with the sympa- 
thetic bond of union that pulsates through all creation, do you 
not feel a spark within you that shall forever retain a compan- 
ionship with the beings that never die? As you trace the foot- 
steps of the human family from Eden's blissful bowers to the 
generation now walking in the flesh with you and follow into 
the depths of futurity, can you resist the pressing intimation that 
the link you form in this mysterious chain of humanity, can 
never he broken? Gather about you your many companions 
and loved ones of earth, place your hand upon your heart and 
tell me truly, do you not recognize a still small voice within you 
which says, "Human souls are inseparable from unending life?" 

Impressions of Immortality in Passing Through Nature. 

In search of convincing evidence and assuring indications 
that the soul of man will live on, conscious of existence 
while the years of eternity roll, we have traversed the material 
world. We have explored every part of the earth, both on land 
and water from every point on the equator to the very poles. 
We have searched the mysterious orbs of the heavens, not only 
with the naked eye, but with telescopes of incredible magnifying 
power. We have traced, not only the movement of each sepa- 
rate planet, satellite, comet, meteoric ball of fire, but we have 
measured and weighed each and watched the harmonious and 
systematic movement of the suns and worlds that unite to form 
the universe of that something we call matter. We have drawn 
from the moving worlds of matter, the forces and laws that 
operate upon and govern the separate bodies and the combined 
movement of all the bodies. In this universe of matter visible 
to the eye, we have discovered that invisible something that 
gives existence to the vegetable and animal kingdoms. Advanc- 
ing further we discover in the living organism of man that which 
we call intelligence, consciousness, reason, understanding, mem- 
ory, will. We are made aware of the operations and accom- 
plishments of the intellect of man in harnessing and applying 
the hidden forces of nature. 

An Advance Beyond the Borders of MATTER to SPIRITY. 

An acquaintainship with nature and with man fails to satisfy 
the longings of our souls. We endeavor to advance beyond the 



17 



borders of creation that we may come to recognize the Creator. 
From the many points of view that we have reached in con- 
sidering man's continuous, conscious existence after death, the 
evidence has been so convicing and the signals so apparent, that 
there can scarcely remain a doubt in our minds as to the soul's 
immortality. Eliminate from our conversation, from our litera- 
ture, from our books of truthful science, morals and religion the 
cohesive tissue of our immortality and how meaningless become 
our words and the things that have been written. How soulless 
become our language and- our thoughts when disconnected with 
an immortal vitality! If we separate God and the immortal 
soul of man from the earth and from the universe, what con- 
ception can we form of what remains? In consulting every gen- 
eration of the human family we find that the general assumption 
and recognition of man's immortal life are so deeply grounded, 
that the number is comparatiely few who doubt or deny the 
persistent, conscious life of the soul throughout the unending 
years of eternity. But men have always been deeply concerned 
as to the manner of life which they should live on earth to ren- 
der them worthy of happiness in the life that never perishes. 
Much light on this vital question has come to the human family 
through sages, philosophers, prophets and messengers from the 
Most High, speaking and acting by means of organized bodies 
composed of flesh and blood. The medium for transmitting the 
light was the vitalized physical man. The wise spirits which 
spoke to man through the medium of the flesh, were but am- 
bassadors who were subject to a sovereign Power. 

God Reveals Himself to Man. 

The highest authority that could speak to men concerning 
man's immortal life and the conditions upon which everlasting 
happiness depends, would be God himself speaking through the 
medium by which truth is transmitted to the human mind. But 
how shall men know God when he appears before them in a 
body of flesh and blood in all respects similar to the human 
body? We may know that he is God by four allied proofs: 
First by the truthfulness and wisdom of his utterances and 
teachings which we recognize by the intuition created within us. 
Second by his actual restoring to health persons afflicted by all 
manner of diseases and infirmities, by his mere touch of the 
hand or word of mouth. Third by vitalizing and bringing back 
to life and reinstating the conscious mind in the remains of one 
who is proven to be dead. Fourth by re-entering his own body 
after his death and again appearing in that same familiar body 
to those best acquainted with him and by his speech and 
actions demonstrate his identy. Let us go back through 
the centuries until we find ourselves in the wilderness of 
Judea listening to John, the Baptist utter the words. "There 



48 



cometh after me one mighter than I, the latchet of whose shoes 
I am not worthy to stoop down and loose." We walk upon the 
banks of the Jordan and there we see John standing by the side 
of the Nazarene,and we hear a voice from heaven saying. "This 
is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." That we may 
prepare ourselves for resisting the temptations which appeal to 
our appetites and passions, we follow the man of Galilee into the 
desert and there spend with him forty days and nights in fast- 
ing and prayer. We walk with him to the pinnacle of the tem- 
ple in the holy city and also up into a very high mountain where 
all earthly possessions and power are offered to him by the 
spirit of evil and he gives us the example of turning away from 
worldly temptations and we listen to his admonition, "The Lord, 
thy God shalt thou adore, and Him only shalt thou serve." We 
assemble with the disciples of Jesus to listen to the most profound 
words of wisdom that ever dropped from the lips of preacher. 
We are listening to the matchless utterances of the "Sermon on 
the Mount." We eagerly listen to the blessings which he bestows 
on the poor in spirit, the meek, the mourners, they that hunger 
and thirst after justice, the merciful, the clean of heart, the peace 
makers and they that suffer persecution for justice sake. We 
feel our souls disturbed as we hearken to the words, "Love your 
enemy, do good to them that hate you and pray for them that 
persecute and calumiate you; that you may be the children of your 
Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the 
good and the bad, and raineth on the just and the unjust". We 
are admonished not to boast of our alms giving as do the hypo- 
crites in the synagogues and in the streets; that they may be 
honored by men. "But when thou dost alms, let not thy left hand 
know what thy right hand doth". Our attention is turned to the 
words of this great Master on prayer, Hearken. "And when ye 
pray ye shall not be as the hypocrites that love to stand and 
pray, in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that 
they may be seen of men, Amen, I say to you they have received 
their reward. But when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, 
and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret, and thy 
Father who seeth in secret will repay thee. And when you are 
praying speak not much, as the heathens, for they think that in 
their much speaking they may be heard. Be not you, therefore, 
like to them, for your Father knoweth what is needful for you 
before you ask him. Thus, therefore, shall you pray: Our Father 
who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. 
Thy will bd done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day 
our super-substantial bread, and forgive us our debts as we for- 
give our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us 



19 



from evil. Amen " We are attracted by his words on fasting: 
"And when you fast, be not as the hypocrites, sad. For they 
disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Amen, 
I say to you, they have received their reward. But when thou 
fastest, anoint thy head and wash thy face, that thou appear not 
to men to fast; but to thy Father who is in secret, 
and thy Father who seeth in secret will reward thee." 
We catch a thought of the darkening effect of evil as he 
utters the words: "The light of thy body is thy eye. If thy 
eye is single, thy whole body shall be lightsome. But if thy eye 
be evil thy whole body shall be darksome." We listen to the 
warning of serving mammon instead of serving God; "Therefore 
I say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, 
nor for your body what you shall put on. Is not the life more 
than the raiment? Behold the birds of the air, for they neither 
sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns, and your heavenly 
Father feedeth them." "Are you not of more value than they?" 
"And for raiment why are you solicitous? Consider the lilies of 
the field, how they grow; they labor not, neither do they spin. 
But I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory, was array- 
ed as one of these." "Be not solicitous therefore, saying what 
shall we eat; or what shall we drink, or whither shall we be clothed? 
For after all these things do the heathens seek. For your Father 
knoweth that you have need of all these things. Seek ye there- 
fore first the kingdom of God and his justice and all these things 
will be added unto you." Our attention is particularly arrested 
as we hear the words: "Judge not that you may not be judged. 
For with what judgment, you judge, you shall be judged; and 
with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again." 
We become deeply impressed as to the manner in which we may 
secure that which will be of lasting benefit to our souls, and the 
words of this great teacher come to our ears: "Ask and it shall 
be given to you: seek and you shall find: knock and it shall be 
opened unto you." After hearing the words of such far reach- 
ing meaning as are contained in the Sermon on the Mount, we are 
persuaded that he speaks as one having power. We are led to 
believe that: "Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word 
that proceedeth from the mouth of God." The words of this 
man of Galilee in teaching us to become as little children are 
most touching. "Amen, I say to you, unless you be converted, 
and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom 
of heaven." "Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this 
little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven." "See 
that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you 
that there angels in heaven always see the face of my Father 



50 



who is in heaven." We are profoundly moved by his rebuke of 
the hypocritical worshipers that converted the temple of God 
into a place of traffic. "And Jesus went into the temple of God, 
and cast out all that sold and bought in the temple, and over- 
threw the tables of the money changers, and the chairs of them 
that sold doves; and he said to them: It is written, My house 
shall be the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of 
thieves. And there came to him the blind and the lame in the 
temple; and he healed them." Not only do his words of wisdom 
and the remarkable clearness of his parables give us proofs that 
he is God walking with us, but he confirms his words by per- 
forming the highest acts of supernatural power that it is possible 
to bring before man. As we follow his footsteps through 
Galilee, Samaria and Judea we witness the cleansing of the leper, 
the curing of the centurion's servant of palsey at Capharnaum, 
the relieving Peter's mother-in-law of a fever, the restoring of 
the insane, the calming of the storm at sea, the multiplication of 
the fishes and the loaves, thus demonstrating his power to re- 
store to health those afflicted with all manner of disease and in- 
firmities. He did not stop at demonstrating his power over the 
living and his control of the winds and the waters in the pres- 
ence of men, but he takes us to the death chamber, to the bier 
and to the tomb to further make known to us his power to call 
back to the corpse the life and spirit that had departed. As we 
await at the death chamber of the daughter of Jairus, Jesus 
enters the house, takes the hand of the lifeless maid. Her spirit 
returns and the maid arises and walks. Near the gates of the 
Nairn we see a large funeral procession. We learn that the dead 
man is the only son of a mourning widow. Jesus with his dis- 
ciples meets the procession. Jesus approaches the mother and 
says: "Weep not." "And He came near and touched the bier. 
And they that carried him stood still. And He said: Young 
man, I say to thee arise. And he that was dead sat up and 
began to talk." In Bethany, near Jerusalem, we witness the 
death and burial of Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha. 
Lazarus remains in the sepulcher four days. On the fourth day 
Jesus goes to the sepulcher and ordering the stone removed he 
says: "Lazarus come forth, and presently he that had been 
dead came forth." Christ came to earth to teach men the great 
fundamental truths on which the permanent happiness of each 
member of the human family depends and to point out the con- 
sequences of man's disregard for these truths. He healed the 
sick and called the dead to life that he might prove to men that 
his words were the utterances of the Lord of lords. He taught 
man that it were better to die in defense of the truths that must 



51 



enter into the minds and hearts of men to gain eternal hap- 
piness than to yield to mere subterfuges for the purpose of pro- 
longing this life with its vanishing pleasures and selfish gratifica- 
tions. In answer to the questions of Pilate, Jesus says: "My 
kingdom is not of this world: If my kingdom were of this 
world, my servants would certainly strive that I should not be 
delivered to the Jews; but my kingdom is not from hence. 
Pilate therefore said to him. Art thou a king then? Jesus 
answered: Thou sayest that I am a king. For this was I born, 
and for this came I into the world: that I should give testimony 
of the truth. Every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice." 

Tbe Immortal SPIRIT Comes Forth from the Sepulcher. 

This great lover of the members of the human family said 
to his followers: "Greater love than this no man hath, that a 
man lay down his life for his friends." In order that the truths 
which he had endeavored to plant in the minds and hearts of 
men might take deep root, he proceeded further to manifest his 
dominion over the kingdom that is not of this world and to 
demonstrate his power to resurrect his body 'from the grave 
after permitting the powers of error and his enemies on earth to 
crucify him until his spirit was released in death. The unmerci- 
ful persecution of this true Lover of our souls on that shameful 
tramp to Mount Calvary, has touched the heart of humanity for 
nineteen centuries. The excruciating torments of that true 
Friend of mankind on the cross that He might bring conviction 
to their minds of the necessity of right living to gain citizenship 
under his reign in the kingdom of unbounded happiness, has 
so worked upon the hearts and consciences of men in every 
land and clime as to produce the purest and noblest men and 
women that have ever walked upon the earth. The suffering on 
the cross, caused as it was by the spirit of evil, more deeply 
affected the heart of erring man than any event that has ever 
transpired on earth, and more effectively brought men to a study 
and practice of that life which was the altruistic, most admirable 
and loving the world ever looked into. The halo of immortality 
clearly appeared in that inspiring life which piloted the way 
which man should follow on this great earthly sea to assure a 
safe voyage to the land of promise. This Man of Galilee, 
'most truthful and faithful in executing and performing his 
every promise and word foretold his disciples, that his 
enemies, in the perverseness of their hearts, would bring 
about his persecution and death; that after his 
death he would, by his own divine power, rise to 



52 



life again and appear to his disciples. Did ever man make a predic- 
tion so incredulous? Even the disciples of Jesus, notwithstanding 
the clearness with which he expressed his prediction, could not 
bring themselves to understand how he could resurrect his own 
dead body and again appear before them. After Jesus had ex- 
pired on the cross, a certain rich man, Joseph of Aramatha, a city 
of Judea, who was a noble counsellor, a good and a just man, 
and had looked himself for the kingdom of God, and was a dis- 
ciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, went boldly to 
Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. But Pilate not satisfied 
that Jesus was really dead, sent for the centurion who informed 
Pilate that Joseph had made a true report. Pilate now orders 
that the body be delivered to Joseph. Joseph assisted by a few 
devout women takes away the body to the new sepulcher which 
had been hewn out of a rock. Preparatory to placing the body 
in the tomb, Nicodemus brings myrrh and aloes and Joseph 
wraps the body in linen clothes with spices, after the manner of 
the Jewish burial. In this sepulcher they laid Jesus, near where 
the crucifixion took place on the same day, and they rolled a 
great stone to the door of the monument. At the request of the 
Jews, Pilate placed a guard of soldiers around the sepulcher to 
prevent the disciples from stealing away the body and to pre- 
vent the disappearance of the body. The death and burial of 
Jesus occurred on Friday. Early on the following Sunday morn- 
ing, being the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene, and the 
other Mary went to the sepulcher to show their regard and love 
for their departed friend. They find the stone rolled away 
from the entrance to the sepulcher. In their distress at not find- 
ing the body of Jesus in the tomb, an angel appears to them say- 
iny: "Fear not you; for I know you seek Jesus who was cruci- 
fied. He is not here; he is risen as he said: Come and see the 
place where the Lord was laid. And going quickly tell His 
disciples that He has risen." On the same day Jesus appears to 
Mary Magdalene while she was weeping at the sepulcher and 
also appears to Peter, After witnessing the scenes in Jerusalem 
attending the crucifixion and hearing the rumors in that city 
of strange things occurring thereafter, two of the disciples of 
Jesus on the first day of the week after His death left Jerusalem 
and were on their way to Emmaus, a city about eight miles from 
Jerusalem. As they journeyed together conversing about the 
events they had witnessed and heard related touching the tragedy 
on Mount Calvary, Jesus joins them on their way, talks to them, 
sits at table with them, breaks bread, discourses on the Scrip- 
tures and makes himself fully known to them. On the evening 
of the same day, Jesus appears to His disciples, except Thomas, 



53 



who were assembled together with the doors shut, for fear of 
the Jews. Thomas on hearing from his associate disciples that 
Jesus had appeared to them, would not believe their delusive 
story. On the Sunday following Jesus appears in a room to all 
of His apostles, Thomas being present. Thomas now sees his 
risen Lord, and is permitted to touch the wounds inflicted on the 
cross. The evidence is so overwhelming that Thomas declares 
his faith in the resurrection and exclaims, "My Lord and My 
God." On another occassion when Peter and a number of the 
disciples were fishing on the sea of Tiberias, Jesus not only ap- 
pears to them, but gives to them bread and fish to eat. So cer- 
tain are they that Jesus is present with them, that it does not 
enter into their minds to ask Him who He is; After His resur- 
rection, Jesus remained forty days with his Apostles communing 
with them and instructing them on the manner of life men must 
live on earth to inherit unending happiness. If the fact of the 
resurrection be denied, what reliance can be placed on any his- 
torical event that has taken place on earth? The twelve Apostles 
of Christ, tried and true men, cautious in receiving any evidence 
that did not bear the elements of intrinsic truth, carefully weigh- 
ing the proofs submitted to them in support of the resurrection 
of Christ, refusing to believe idle tales, discrediting the testi- 
mony of others and even questioning their own senses as to 
what appeared before them coming forth from the tomb. They 
could not fully convince their own doubting minds without the 
severest tests and most searching investigation of every proof 
offered to establish the resurrection. They could not believe 
what had been reported to them, about the reappearance of 
Christ but they did believe when they saw Jesus with their own 
eyes, heard His voice repeatedly, dined with Him, eat bread 
from His hands and even touched His wounds. Only a few of 
the facts on which the Apostles based their belief in the resur- 
rection, was recorded in the Book of books. The reappearance 
of a man after death is so foreign from what we meet in this life 
on earth, that we would find ourselves unable to reconcile in our 
minds the clearest details that could be written on a mystery in- 
volving revelations from the spirit that has passed through the 
valley of death, to the minds of men on earth living in the flesh. 
From the nature of the subject, we may justly conclude that our 
belief in Christ's resurrection could not have found stronger 
support by a lengthy and detailed account of all that the Apos- 
tates could have reduced to writing. During forty days, at op- 
porture times, in well selected places and in proper states of 
mind for the reception of revelations coming from the risen 



54 



Christ, the Apostles were witnesses of the most convincing 
proofs that their Lord and Master had returned to them from 
the confines of the grave. They could not be more convinced 
of their very existence than were they of having again met and 
conversed with Jesus after His death. Their faith was tested by 
the severest tests that lay in the power of man to make. They 
suffered excruciating tortures and even sacrificed their lives in 
support of their faith in the resurrection. Not one of the twelve 
faltered in his conviction of Christ's triumph over death. In the 
nineteenth century, we of this generation, now living in the 
flesh, bear witness to the marvelous effects of the life, death and 
resurrection of Christ in fortifying men against the proneness of 
their hearts to evil and in advancing the enlightenment and pro- 
gressive spirit for the betterment of humanity in all the nations 
of the earth. 

If we assume that the soul is extinguished at death, the 
whole mission of Christ on eaith is meaningless. His whole 
life on earth and His sacrifice on the cross had a single purpose 
and meaning. Take out of Man's soul the life of immortality 
and the indwelling consciousness of its own existence and 
Christianity loses its mission. Christ's mission on earth was not 
to teach men how to lay up treasures in this life and how best 
to search out the pleasures of earth, but His whole purpose was 
to teach men what manner of lives they shall live on earth in 
order to acquire a treasure of inexhaustible happiness in a 
conscious unending existence after the close of an earthly career. 
The Man of Galilee makes clear that the separate persons of all 
the generations of man on earth, will have a conscious existence 
after each mortal body is laid in the grave when He says. "All 
who are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God." 
As fellow travelers in this perilous journey on earth, let us enter 
into a spirit of brotherly love as members of one family and 
consult together in a spirit of charity, excluding every selfish 
motive, and consider how we may best promote the individual 
and general welfare. 

A Deep Seated CAUSE for Man's Sufferings and Woes. 

We are shaply and forcibly reminded of the great suffering 
and misery with which many of us are afflicted. As we look at 
our suffering companions and realize their pitiable condition, 
can we resist the sympathetic impulses of our hearts that prompt 
us to bring the sufferers all possible relief? In our endeavor to 
relieve our afflicted brothers and sisters, the truth gradually 



55 



dawns upon us that these afflictions must result from some deep 
seated cause. We are aware that we possess endowments of 
mind by which we can search out the very enemy that sows 
the tares which bring on the malady. After we have sought 
out the enemy, our best talents and generalship must be brought 
into effective action to drive the demon out the body. The 
question confronts us: How far are we ourselves responsible 
for many of the ailments and afflictions that invade our bodies? 
Do we make proper use of the talents we possess and the means 
at our disposal for combatting the evils that afflict us? In the" 
calm hours of reflection, we naturally trace back the deeds done 
in our bodies and the negligence that has marked our career. 
We now take note of the fruits which we reap from the good 
seed and the bad seed which we have sown. Not only do we 
look into our own lives but we search back further for the good 
and the bad seed sown by our parents, our grand parents and 
our great-grand-parents. We discover that the major part of 
our afflictions flows from a violation of physical, moral and 
divine laws which we can know and obey, if we will only make 
use of the talents and gifts which God has bestowed on us. The 
seeds of evil that our ancestors sowed still infest our bodies. 
So rank have the obnoxions weeds grown in some of us that 
only by the supreme effort of our lives can we clear the way for 
the good seed that will bring forth the abundent harvest. 

The BLESSINGS We Receive from God. 

We can not hope to accomplish the greatest good until our 
minds and hearts have clearly awakened to the true Source of 
all good. The fountain head from which all good flows is God, 
the Father, who supplies us with untold blessings. Have we 
ever fully considered and realized the endowments and precious 
gifts bestowed upon us by a loving Father? We owe to Him 
our very existence. What a privilege to be born in the image of 
our Maker! What marvelous powers of reason, memory, under- 
standing and will He has delegated to us! What vast resources 
has He stored in the charming unverse to afford discipline and 
entertainment for the mind and heart of man! This body is the 
temple which He has formed out of the earth for the 
dwelling place of the soul in this life. He has given 
to us the fellow-beings with whom we associate. How 
desolate would be this world if it were not for 
the interchange of thoughts, sympathies, loves and affect- 
ions in the- coming together of kindred souls? As we 
mingle among our companions and the fond hearts about 
us can we be so blind as not to recognize the great 



56 



Benefactor who gave them to us? As we come in view and 
touch with all forms and substances in the mineral kingdom, the 
endless variety of colors, scenes and charms in the vegetable 
kingdom, and the multiplicity and variety of insects, reptiles, 
birds and animals in the animal kingdom, do we not realize that 
a most loving Father is mindful of our happiness and welfare? 
Do we not enjoy a royal privilege when we are permitted to 
look into the beauty, the grandeur and glory of the heavens 
stretched in the yastness above us with the unnumbered stars 
gleaming in every part of the blue dome from the zenith to the 
horizon, with the planets blazing from their separate orbits and 
with a solitary comet in its short visit? If this glory of the 
heavens touches our hearts, how much more deeply should 
we be moved when the inspiring truth steals upon us 
that the Almighty Hand has shaped and fashioned the shining 
orbs of the night to enlighten and cheer our immortal souls? 
He stretches the clouds out like curtains and gives to the float- 
ing forms such beauty of colors and transitions of changing hues 
and shapes as to please and gladden the eye of man. Every 
twenty-four hours He calls forth the Sun to give us the morning 
and to pour out upon us heat and light in its daily circuit of the 
heavens and to give us a parting smile amid the shifting tints of 
the evening sky. No sooner has our all wise Giver of all good 
gifts transported the Sun beyond the mountains and the far 
away western ocean, than He brings to us the never failing re- 
turn of the twinkling stars in their nightly movements through 
the heavens and the waxing and waning of the pleasant moon 
silently pursuing her course in a clear sky or amidst the scene of 
racing clouds. This most kind and loving Father provides us 
with the air we breathe, the water we drink, the light that illum- 
inates our pathway, the heat that warms our bodies, the rai- 
ment that clothes our nakedness and food that gives us nourish- 
ment. He gives us our daily bread and every moment of our 
existence gives us the breath of life and perpetuates the pulsa- 
tions of our hearts. He is with us every houi of the day and 
every moment of the night He is with us in our family circle, 
in our neighborly greetings, in our relations as citizens of the 
state, in our gatherings in the sanctuaries of worship and in all 
things that go to make up the fullness of our lives in our steward- 
ship on earth. If we regard men great benefactors who have 
merely applied the material and forces of nature in putting in 
motion the steam car, the electric car, the motor car and the 
aeroplane, we may well regard Him who gave us the benefactors 
and all the materials and forces upon which they exercised their 
genius, the great Benefactor of benefactors. If man's inventive 



57 



genius and physical powers enable him to encircle the globe with 
conductors of thought that transmit, in the twinkling of an eye, 
the occurrence of an event to the ear of humanity in the most 
distant quarters of the earth, what shall we think of that Om- 
nipotent Intelligence and Power that rendered possible such 
marvelous accomplishments of the human intellect? We are 
lost in the realms of mystery, when standing on the shore we 
receive a flash of distress from a steam leviathan of the deep, 
thousands of miles away in mid ocean and we are carried away 
in the mystic regions of wonder as we witness the operations 
and panoramic exhibitions of all the earth and man's life and 
history thereon, pictured forth and acted out in the magic scenes 
of moving pictures. Are we indebted to man alone for the 
revelations that are unfolded to us out of the myserious poten- 
tialities in nature and about which we can not cease to won- 
der? An all wise and loving Being, has, in the plenitude of his 
goodness, and at his appointed time, brought these marvelous 
things to a knowledge of the children of earth that good might 
be evolved in the minds and hearts of men. Do we not perceive 
that in all things God manifests his love for us and offers every 
opportunity for us to depart from those evils that destroy our 
real happiness and to join our souls to the things that bear good 
fruit and fill our minds with assurances of eternal life? 

We Owe to God GRATITUDE, and OBEDIENCE to His Commands. 

Our true Friend remembers us every day of our lives by 
showering His blessings on us and we must be degraded beings 
if our hearts are not moved to gratitude. We realize that, in 
the conduct of our lives, we have violated the clearest principles 
of integrity and disregarded the plainest cammands of the Most 
High and we can not escape the conviction that the only means 
of making amends is by a sincere repentance and a reformation 
of our lives. Faith without good works will avail us nothing. 
"Not every one that saith to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the 
kindom of heaven: but he that doeth the will of My Father, who 
is in heaven, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven." "if thou 
wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." To think of God 
is to awaken in us thoughts of immortality. To love God is to 
fix our hearts on Him with whom we shall abide forever. Man's 
inner sense of the fitness of things, common reason and the 
dictates of conscience, make clear our duties and obligations to 
obey the ten commandments promulgated from Mount Sinai. 
The study and practice of the way of life as pointed out and 



38 



exemplified in the life of Christ, will disperse the clouds which 
cast doubts on man's belief in immortality and will awaken an 
abiding hope of dwelling in an abode of endless happiness. 
Have we grown so dull of comprehension and so blind to the 
increasing light coming down to us through the dissolving dark- 
ness of nineteen centuries that we are again in need of Christ's 
return to earth in the flesh to once more teach us the real vir- 
tues of this life that fit us for the joys of heaven? Are we still 
in need of miracles to induce us to believe that we should love 
and worship God? Are we so wedded to intemperance, forni- 
cation, adultry, blasphemy, swearing, stealing, reveling and dese- 
crating all that is good that it has become necessary for our eyes 
to be opened to our wrongs by another crucifixion and resur- 
rection showing us the results of our iniquities? If we are told 
that we must love our enemies, do good to those that hate us, 
and perform the act of the good Samaritan, will we refuse to do 
so because Christ is not here in the flesh to perform a miracle 
to confirm His authority? The bodies in which we live, are 
sacred temples. Do we not see on every hand the appalling re- 
sults of desecrating this temple? We need no messenger from 
above to reveal to us the wretchedness which men and women 
bring on themselves by using their bodies for evil purposes. 
Men well know the wrong, yet still pursue the wrong. The 
necessity of forming right habits of thinking and right habits of 
acting becomes quite apparent. Habits are formed in the tender 
and delicate minds and hearts of early life. Train up the child 
in the way in which it should go and as a general rule it will not 
depart therefrom in after life. 

The Evil in the Lives of Parents Afflicts tbeir Children. 

But when we find so many parents who have lived lives of 
debauchery and wickedness, how are we to bring about the 
proper training of their children? We plunge on recklessly in 
the pursuit of sensual enjoyments of earthly life without rais- 
ing our minds to our Creator once in twenty-four hours. We 
harken not to His commands. We do not look in gratitude to 
God for the blessings we have received and we do not repent 
for the infractions of his mandates. We shamefully refuse to 
gather with our fellow beings once in seven days to bring our 
hearts in a unison of love for our heavenly Father whose mercy 
has preserved our lives every moment of the week. We, as 
parents, neglect and indulge our children in their evil tend- 
encies and permit them to stray away from God's sanctuary. 
Ingratitude has so corrupted our hearts that we cease to venerate 
the Author of our being and are unwilling to make a single 



59 

sacrifice in recognition of our allegiance to Him. How often 
would He have gathered us under his protection as a hen gath- 
ers her brood, but we would not! We continue to worship the 
golden calf and to engross our hearts with the things of earth. 
Our minds dwell upon the immediate ends and gratifications we 
may gain on earth and we are drawn from those noble deeds 
and sacrifices in this life which will ultimately crown us with the 
treasures of heaven. In our places of worship at the present 
day are there not many Scribes and Pharisees who go to be seen 
of men, or attend from selfish motives? Are not the sanctuar- 
ies of God often turned into dens of thieves and hypocrites who 
have no true love in their hearts for their heavenly Father? 
There is something rotten in Denmark. The voice of the Most 
-High is calling erring man out of the wilderness of wickedness and 
despair. But can men and women while seething in the sins of 
Sodom and Gomorrah and reveling in the dens of intemperance, 
hear that voice? Will the Lord give a sign to an adulterous gen- 
eration? God helps those who try to help themselves. The 
violation of God's commandments turns the heart of man from 
God. Obedience to God's commands fulfills the conditions that 
must unite to convert man's heart to the love of God. There 
can be no pretense or hypocrisy on the part of man in gaining 
reconciliation with God. We can not desecrate the temple in 
which we live without feeling the lash of retribution. Our sins 
against nature and nature's God disable and wreck the temple in 
which we live, bringing upon us loss of health and anguish of 
mind. There can be no conflict in physical, moral and divine 
laws, coming, as they do, from God. The commands of God are 
in perfect harmony with the laws which must be obeyed in pro- 
ducing a sound body and in preserving that body in a healthy 
condition. God has bestowed upon man such powers of reason, 
understanding and volition as enable him to search out and obey 
the laws established for the individual and general welfare. 
That each member of the human family may attain the highest 
development, according to the capacity of each, there exists the 
family, the church and the state. The importance of extraordin- 
ary care and a proper knowledge ot the conditions which govern 
the bringing into the world a well developed and healthy infant, 
can not be too strongly impressed upon the minds of parents. 
Nothing will be so conducive to this end as the true 
love of God in the hearts of the parents, exemplified 
by observing the commandments. The injunction rests 
upon man, not to serve nor adore any image or part 
of creation, not to take the name of God in vain, to 
keep holy one day in seven, to honor his father 



60 



and his mother, not to kill, not to commit adultry, not to steal, 
not to bear false witness against his neighbor, not to covet his 
neighbor's wife, not to covet his neighbor's goods, to love his 
neighbor as himself and to love his Maker with all the powers 
of his being 

Well Regulated Society an Essential Aid to Parents. 

While the parents have a duty to perform in the early de- 
velopment of right living in their children and in awakening in 
their hearts the fear and love of God, yet the influences of the 
society in which the children live may be so antagonistic as to 
thwart the good work of the parents. The families of a ter- 
ritory organize themselves into a state for the purpose of pro- 
viding protection to the life, liberty and property of each in- 
dividual. The children must pass from the care and instructions 
under the parental roof to receive instructions and education 
under state regulations. Certain qualifications are required of 
the teachers under whose charge the children are placed. The 
standard of qualification is intellectual principally, coupled with 
passable habits and a fair moral character. A belief in God or 
in the immortality of the soul is not taken into consideration in 
testing the qualifications of the teacher. Thus a very potent 
factor in the development of the most exalted ideals in the mind 
of the child is overlooked. This omission is, in a measure, sup- 
plied by instruction given by clergymen and other instructors in 
places of worship. As the children advance in years they 
gradually steal away from the discipline and moral upbuilding that 
produce noble characters, and indulge in sensual pleasures and 
amusements that enervate and unfit them to meet and overcome 
the stern antagonism of life. They often cease to become win- 
ners of bread and become outcasts, dependent on charity. Leg- 
ions, are the misguided victims that have biased their prospects 
forever by entering the enticing resorts where the intoxicating 
cup is put to the lip and the mind is robbed of its reason. 
While the state taxes its citizens to provide an education for 
children growing into manhood and womanhood, it throws but 
little protection around the child against the serpents openly 
capturing their victims through the saloon doors along the street 
or alluring them among vipers coiled in the rear of drug stores, 
in dens of seculsion and in so-called respectable club rooms. 
The traffic in intoxicating liquors is productive of great evil to 
the inhabitants of a state, and no good reason can be adduced 
for tolerating such a menace to society. Were it not that the gov- 
ernment derives large revenue out of the traffic, and that the 
manufacturers and dispensers of the fire liquid fill their pockets 
with money from the unfortunate victims who yield to the 



61 



temptation, there could be no motive for perpetuating this dis- 
reputable business. While this traffic, in our cities and towns 
holds up the tempting bowl to the youth and young men of our 
land, the fathers and mothers are thwarted in their endeavors 
to restrain their sons from the vice of intemperance. 

Co-operation of Parents, Legislators, Administrators of tbe Laws and 
Divine Teachers will Result in Great Good. 

Ye parents, ye ligislators, administrators of the law, ye min- 
isters of the gospel, withdraw to the Mount of Wisdom and look 
down upon your fellow men at the open and secret resorts for 
drinking intoxicating liquors, and behold the revolting aspect. 
Ponder deep your responsibilities, open the door to your con- 
sciences, invoke the help of your God, and bring your minds 
together in consummating a method of procedure by which the 
vipers, which are infecting the youths of your country with 
alcohoiic poison, may be followed to their hiding places and 
forced to retire from their depredations in this fair land. By all 
means diminish the ranks of the armies of unfortunate victims 
who are marching to the dreary desert of pauperism, the asylums 
for the insane and the prisons for criminals. Your attention is 
not only directed to the dark haunts where young men pour into 
their mouths the liquid that robs them of their reason and par- 
alyzes their bodies, but your eyes become fixed upon the evil 
doers who give themselves up to the sins that brought upon the 
cities of Sodom and Gomorrah the vengeance of a righteous God. 
Seriously consider how to relieve your country from this awful 
leprosy with which it is afflicted. These evils will not be miti- 
gated by merely looking up and saying, "Lord, Lord, deliver us 
from these evils." You must make yourselves active workers in 
shaping and bringing about the reforms. You must not only be 
preachers of the word but also doers of the word. Those who 
will, in some measure, render obedience to the commands of 
God, may look for divine assistance, as God helps those who try 
to help themselves. We must ever bear in mind, in our en- 
deavor to accomplish good, the primary truth, that all good 
comes from the great Father of all and to Him our hearts must 
turn to accomplish the highest good in our respective spheres. 
Merely admonishing, preaching, delivering long sermons on 
baptism, the crucifixion and the resurrection will prove of little 
avail, if we do not the will of the King of kings. Men in all the 
vocations of life, even ministers of the gospel, become so much 
bent on the emoluments which their station brings them and 
the comforts of this life to be derived therefrom, that their 
hearts have tamely gone out for the welfare of their fellow men. 
Under the influence of worldly allurements we have all wan- 



62 



dered away into the wilderness of mammen where we are stung 
and menaced by venomous reptiles. We are far removed from 
the blessings we failed to appreciate in the home of our heavenly 
Father. As brothers and sisters, in one common cause, we must 
unite in a return to the home of our Father by way of the ten 
commandments, the love of our neighbors and the supreme love 
for Him who has spared our lives. 

A Return to God in the Family, in the Legislative Bodies, in the Schools, 
in the Churches and in all the Walks of Life will Bring Benedictions. 

In our family, in the halls of legislatures, in our institutions 
of learning, in our temples of worship and in all the walks of 
life, we need to return to God. As we return we will see the 
ranks of disease, misery and despair decreasing. We will see 
the armies on their way to asylums and prisons diminishing. 
Winning favor with God we will see the lame walk, the deaf 
hear and the blind see. When the love of God has truly de- 
veloped in the hearts of the parents, in the hearts of the law 
makers, in the hearts of the officers who administer the laws, in 
the hearts of the teachers who instruct the children and in the 
hearts of the ministers who preach the word of God, length of 
years will be added to the lives of men and women, disease and 
maladies of the body will rapidly decrease, pain and suffering 
will be mitigated and all the people will praise God from whom 
all blessing flow. The minds of men, relieved from the excessive 
worry and stress of worldly follies, will be better prepared to 
enact and enforce just laws that will mete out to all men, in 
every walk of life, equality of opportunity in the contest for 
the bread of life and an equitable return for the physical 
and mental services rendered in providing food, shelter educa- 
tion and comforts for the citizens of the state. Idleness, ex- 
travagance, grafts, gambling, fraud, extortion and dishonesty 
will not be permitted to rob toil, industry and economy of their 
honest earnings. The harmony that men see in the order and 
movement of the celestial spheres will take possession of human 
hearts and the souls of men will catch the inspiration which will 
bring about such harmony and good will among the citizens of 
the state as to salute the heavens in happy greetings. This har-. 
mony and good will among men, will remove evil from the eye 
and there will come in plain view, the God of the universe and 
the immortal soul will be seen to shine as clear as a star of the 
first magnitude among its comparions in the depths of space. 
As our minds penetrate the vastness that surrounds us and 
brings us in touch with a star hundreds of trillions of miles away 



63 



in space, so as we look into the centuries of futurity we feel that 
we are in touch with the orbs that shine in the eternity of time. 
There is an eternity. We can not doubt it. There is that which 
endures throughout unending time. This truth is too clear to 
admit of contradiction. There is an intelligence in the universe 
that will remain forever. The intelligence in man clearly recog- 
nizes that intelligence. The intelligence in man clearly discerns 
that the intelligence in man is in the image and consequent en- 
during essence as the intelligence in the Universe. Therefore 
man was born for eternity. Without harmony there can not 
be permanent happiness, therefore the intelligence in man must 
be brought in harmony with the intelligence in the universe. 
The will of man must harmonize with the will of God. 

We Visit The Cemetery. 

We visit the cemetery where the bodies of our relatives and 
friends lie moldering in their graves and we feel within ourselves 
an immortal thread that binds us not to the crumbling bodies 
but to the immortal spirits that walked with us on earth in 
those mortal bodies. We weep because we are separated from 
those spirits that walk no longer with us in the flesh, but we feel 
that there exists a relationship between ourselves in the flesh 
and the departed spirits, that can not be broken. We walk with 
our fellow men in the flesh in the city of the dead and the im- 
mortal within us converses about the careers of the spirits that, 
in by-gone days, walked with us in the flesh, but with whom we, 
now in the flesh, can not communicate for the reason that the 
medium of communication between these departed spirits and the 
spirits in the flesh, now molders in the graves at our feet. 

As we stand in the silent city of the dead, the marvelous 
mind within us penetrates to the dead bodies crumbling in the 
tombs, and awakens them to life to play again their respective 
parts on this earthly stage. Motionless our bodies stand as our 
minds re-enact the parts played by the inhabitants of the silent 
city. As we look at the skeleton of bones in each coffin, we see 
the same ingredients of earthly material. We see no signs of 
life and nothing in each skeleton by which we can distinguish 
our enemies from our loved ones. In vain we look for the 
spirit that played its part in the bony frame, but our hearts are 
moved to compassion for the soul that has departed. We look 
at this ghastly frame and ask ourselves: Was the inhabitant of 
this tenement my enemy? Poor soul why did I hate him? Do I 
now retain that hatred and malice? Shall I smash these bones? 



64 



God forbid. We are now reminded of the great Heart that never 
deserts us even when we are wandering far away in the wilder- 
ness of wickedness, and who said while under the scourge of 
His persecutors: "Love your enemies; do good to them that 
persecute and calumniate you." We realize that we too, must 
meet death and that we will long for the love of those whom we 
have mistreated and on whom we have inflicted shameful in- 
juries. As we look into the vacant eye sockets and brainless 
skull of this inoffensive skeleton, do we not feel a wonderful 
conversion working in our souls? Do we not feel within us a 
growing change of heart? Let ns now turn our eyes to our 
fellow men still living in the flesh. Do we still harbor anger 
and hatred toward our old enemies? Oh, blessed moments as 
we experience the love of our hearts going out to our enemies, 
going out to those who persecute and calumniate us. In the 
fullness of our love, we raise our hearts to our heavenly Father 
in prayer for them. Blessings from on High come to us, and 
our whole being overflows with love of God. We become all 
true brothers and sisters, believing with all our hearts that there 
is an eternal Father, most loving, and that we possess immortal 
souls undergoing a probation on earth giving us the golden 
privilege of winning eternal happiness. In one grand union of 
hearts, we meet in a universal greeting, joining our hearts in 
prayer to Him from whom all blessings flow, and in songs of 
thanksgiving we joyfully swell the mighty chorus that is heard 
at the gates of heaven. 

THE SOUL FEEDS ON INPERISHABLE FOOD. 

The more that men come to recognize the immortality of 
their souls the more will they realize their equality, and the 
greater will become their mutual love for each other. A firm 
and an abiding conviction in the unending conscious existence 
of the soul, will promote higher ideals of life, mould admirable 
characters and develop in the hearts of men that love for the 
great Father of all which gives an assurance of permanent hap- 
piness. Men need to air their souls and to expand their faculties. 
They permit the powers of the soul to lie dormant, and thus 
deprive themselves of the marvelous blessings that come to 
souls that make their flights above the perishable things of earth 
to dwell in thoughts that give an assurance of immortal life. The 
principles, truths, and pure philosophy by which the soul wings 
its untiring flight to a vision of its eternal abode, will forever 
remain to nourish unending life. In all nature we see nothing 
superior to man, and in man we see nothing superior to the 
mind. The mind of man surpasses every object which we 



65 



perceive in the universe, and more difficult was it to form than 
even the sun itself. We wonder not, therefore, that the soul is 
endowed with inherent, enduring elements which have baffled 
the ingenuity of the best metaphysicians who have endeavored 
to fathom the profound depths of that living, reasoning, con- 
scious mystery in man, far more unfathomable than deepest 
ocean. "As the body, being mortal, feeds on mortal things, so 
since the soul contemplates and beholds immortal things, it fol- 
lows that it is immortal and lives forever, for ideas and thoughts 
about immortality never desert the soul, but abide in it, and are, 
as it were, the fuel in it which insures immortality." Men who 
devote their lives to the physical sciences, limit themselves to the 
narrow bounds of matter and are so held within its confines 
that they become blind to important truths that are clearly dis- 
cerned by the common mind. 

A Materialist Casts A Cloud on Immortal Life. 

Scarcely are we fully convinced that we are heirs to im- 
mortal life than some abnormal product of physical science 
stalks abroad announcing his development from an ancient 
family of monkeys. This giant of science is a developed monkey 
of marvelous pretensions. He assumes to be a progressive of 
the most pronounced type. He jokes about the superstitions 
and ignorance of our forefathers, and would consign to the 
flames all the foolishness that has been written about a future 
life. He would live just as the monkey lives, without the 
thought of a future life or the past history of his race. He would 
live for this life alone, just as all other brute creation does. Here 
comes the professor just from delivering a sensational lecture 
on the unscientific notion of the departed generations. We in- 
advertantly accost him just as he steps on the broad, smooth 
walk leading from a magnificent edifice of learning. "Good 
morning, Professor." "Good morning gentlemen." "Professor, 
we are pleased to meet you, as we have been very much inter- 
ested in your lectures which have been given wide circulation 
through magazines and newspapers." "Gentlemen, I thank 
you very much for this compliment." "Professor, we discover 
that there has been much progress in the physical sciences in 
these modern days." "Gentleman, you speak truly. Science has 
proven that there is nothing in this whole universe but matter. 
What is called God, is nothing more than the blind opera- 
tion of the forces of nature, and what is called the soul 
is nothing more than a function of the brain. Man is a 
mere animal that comes upon the earth to live a few days and 
then perish forever. The man of science has discovered that 



66 



the universe of matter is composed of ultimate, indivisible atoms. 
These atoms are eternal, they had no beginning, and are im- 
perishable. Man has never received any revelation from God, 
and Christ is but a myth. All religion is nothing more than the 
superstition of the ignorant and barbarous ages of the past. 
Science is rapidly clearing away the rubbish that has filled men's 
minds in the centuries gone by. We know nothing about the 
future life, and the brain of man should be occupied in getting 
the best out of this life and not to waste any thought and energy 
in trying to follow any one of the deluded religious sects, that 
only interfere with the well-being of the human race." 

The Self Inspection of the Soul, Freed from the Cloud of Matter, Reveals 
in the Soul its Separate and Permanent Existence. 

"Well, professor, may there not be some serious errors and 
misleading deductions in your theories? How you can prove by 
matter itself, that there is no such entity as spirit or intellect 
apart from matter is inconceivable. You assert that there 
exists the ultimate, indivisible atom. What is an atom? It can- 
not be seen with the strongest microscope. Although you are 
unable to define the properties of an atom or to give the ele- 
ments that compose it, yet you declare that its existence is from 
everlasting to everlasting. To form the various objects in the 
universe you put together sufficient atoms to make up each 
body. Professor, your attention is now called to something that 
really exists, but which is of such a nature as not to be seen or 
heard, or smelled, or tasted, or touched. Yet you know more 
about this something than you do about the mateial universe. 
This something that thinks, reasons, understands, wills, and is 
conscious of its operations and its existence, is certainly in this 
universe. You can not escape knowing this truth. This some- 
thing has been so selfevident, that all generations of the human 
race have recognized it as an entity, different in kind from mat- 
ter, and have given it a name, the SOUL. 

How are you to give meaning to the lectures which you 
deliver, and how transmit your thoughts to other rational beings, 
if you are nothing more than matter and the beings that you ad- 
dress but the mere slime of the earth? If there be no such 
thing as a thinking, rational soul apart from matter, why do you 
in your discourses so learnedly give expression to leanguage 
which so clearly betrays you into treating mind and body as 
separate and distinct entities that go to make up the man? When 
you address an audience do you say: "This physical body of 
mine, appears before your physical bodies in this material build- 
ing to communicate material matter from my corporeal body to 



your corporeal bodies. You have brains but you have no 
minds. I am talking to your brains, not to your minds for 
science has demonstrated that there is no such thing as mind. 
To obviate any difficulty or confusion that may arise in the use 
of the words, "brain and mind," science has substituted the apt 
expression FUNCTION OF THE BRAIN to take the place of 
the meaningless word, mind?" "Professor, the brain is a tang- 
ible collection of material particles so arranged as to form what 
is regarded as one of the organs of the physical body. There 
exists in man a something that thinks, reasons, understands and 
is conscious of its thinking, its reasoning, its understanding and 
its existence. This something examines the brain and finds that 
it is composed of the same identical matter which we eat, drink 
and breathe. The elements of earth, air and water are found in 
the brain and no other element exist in it outside earthly 
material. This reasoning something analyses the matter and in 
the light of reason and consciousness separates all matter into 
atoms. No microscope can reveal this atom nor can it come in 
touch with any one of the five senses of the physical organism. 
It becomes a mere creature of the conscious, reasoning entity. 
In the brain this conscious, reasoning entity finds small particles 
of matter, called cells. These sells are surprisingly multipled to 
form the whole structure of the brain. This marvelous structure 
is traversed by blood vessels and connecting lines of nerves, ac- 
cording to the disclosures made to the conscious reasoning 
something. Does an atom think and reason? If one atom of 
matter possesses no property of consciousness and reason, all 
other atoms being of the same nature can possess no property 
of consciousness or reason. As far as the conscious, reasoning 
entity can discover for itself, the world of matter consists of 
many elements, such as oxygen and nitrogen that combine to 
form air; oxygen and hydrogen to form water; and other ele- 
ments existing in their simple form as iron, copper, gold, silver, 
tin, zinc, and carbon. There are elements in nature not 
found in the structure of the brain. Now if man consists 
wholly of material elements and there is no conscious, reason- 
ing entity in man except a material brain, how can this com- 
bination of certain material atoms reach out into the external 
world and come into a knowledge of elements not found in the 
brain? If an atom of iron, or oxygen, or carbon possess none 
of the attributes of the essence that thinks and reasons, is 
it possible to make combinations of these atoms so that 
the senseless atoms of themselves will produce by their blind 
co-operation, a reasoning, conscious soul? Is mind the result of the 



68 



combind movement of atoms? Do the material atoms of the 
brain, each by itself or by combination and peculiar movement, 
create a something that reasons upon all existences, and the 
relations of these existences in this vast universe? Does this 
brain distinguish itself from all other brains? Do the atoms 
contained in the brain, by their peculiar co-operation of action, 
search out and determine the laws and principles which pre- 
serve and keep in operation the universal order of material* ex- 
istences? Now this reasoning, conscious something that we call 
soul, through all of its acts and manifestations bears none of 
the marks which distinguish matter. Matter may be divided 
and separated into parts and again combined into inorganic and 
organic bodies. The soul is one, indivisible, indestructible 
essence which is conscious of itself and its relations to the body 
in which it dwells and the marvelous works of nature that ex- 
pand in all directions around the body. The materialist in his 
endeavor to convert man into a mere material organism without 
a soul, or spirit apart from matter, is forced to retreat into the 
most absured positions when pursued by the keen logic and 
basic principles which go to establish the necessary existence of 
mind in order to reach an understanding of man in his physical, 
intellectual and moral spheres. The hydra-headed errors of 
materialism, agnosticism and atheism make their appearance in 
every age under the assumed name of advanced science, only to 
make a hasty retreat under the invinciple intellectual argumen- 
tation of great souls which periodically come among men to ex- 
pose the sophistry and misleading arguments of soulless ad- 
vocates. 

The Soul Acquires Treasures for Everlasting Life Through its Experience 
in a Changing, Mortal Body. 

In this great onward march of life, we need no longer tarry 
in the dark labyrinthian caves of the materialists, the atheists 
and agnostics, for we have only to come out into the light of day 
in the atmosphere of that pure rational philosophy which re- 
veals an all wise intelligence in the universe and elevates man to 
an inheritance, from the great Father of all, of that life that 
knows no death. We can rest assured that the common verdict 
of the human family, coming down to us through all the ages and 
now approved by the great commonality of mankind walking in 
the flesh, must be the truth when the very individuals who render 
the verdict have lived in the heart and soul of the evidence and 
proofs that lead to the verdict. That verdict determines that the 
soul of man is the thinking, reasoning, conscious essence in man 



69 



and is a distinct entity from the body; that although the soul 
and body are intimately bound together during this journey of 
life and are apparently dependent on each in working out the 
purposes to be attained in this strange ordeal of keeping soul 
and body together, yet when the purposes of this life are ac- 
complished, the soul gains its freedom and it no longer has the 
care and charge of a mortal body, subject to injury, disease and 
dissolution at every turn of earthly life. The body and soul 
are so closely bound together, or as it were in the grasp, of 
each other, that whatever tends to their seperation, or interferes 
with their union, produces pain, misery, aches, torture, depres- 
sion, exhaustion and apprehensions of great damage or destruct- 
ion to the physical organism with which the soul has been so 
intimately associated in the mysterious sojourn through this 
earthly pilgrimage. The soul realizes that it is subject to the 
conditions and requirements, imposed upon it in its relations to 
a carnal body environed by the objects of the natural world 
under the restrictions of physical laws. However much a man 
may endeavor to escape the duties and obligations which per- 
sistently invade his consciousness and his conscience, there 
steals upon him the presence of good and evil, right and wrong 
and the necessity of choosing and following the ways that lead 
to good and to avoid the ways that lead to evil. The important 
truth comes home to us, that there is a great work of the soul to 
be performed within the limitations of the body and its environ- 
ments, in fitting and preparing the soul to accomplish its greater 
mission and loftiest degree of happiness in its separate and in- 
dependent state after separation from the body. 

The Material Progress of the Present Age Has Tended to Divert the Mind 
from a Rational and Philosophical Insight into the Science of the Soul. 

In this age of material progress, the human mind tends to 
become inordinately devoted to the study and investigation of the 
material world and the physical laws which govern and control 
material bodies. The pursuit becomes so intense that the mind 
loses itself in following the peculiar nature and diversity of the 
material organisms. The balance wheel, which regulates the op- 
erations of the mind in the freedom of its movements in the close- 
ly related worlds of matter and spirit, is thrown out of gear. The 
elimination of Intellect produces discord and the materalized 
scientist finds it impossible to reconcile the self existance of mat- 
ter apart from an Intellgence that directs and regulates the move- 
ments of matter. There exists the necessity of placing the bal- 
ance wheel in gear and restoring the essential relationships of 
mind and matter in solving the problems involved in presenting 



70 



man's relation to the universe in this life and in the future life. 
The swing of the pendilum has how gone far out into material 
existences ranging from an atom to a planet and from a pro- 
toplasm to the human organism. The speed of the backward 
swing may become so great as to reach an extreme in the op- 
posite direction producing a science which will eliminate matter 
and give universal existence to spirit alone. The cause of the 
material tendencies of this age is apparent to every reflecting 
mind. This is an age of microscopes, telescopes, spectroscopes, 
seismographs, telephones, motor cars, automobiles, aeroplanes 
and wireless telegraphy. The utilization of electricity and other 
hidden forces in nature is producing wonders and men's souls 
are forgotten. The mind has become centered on the moving 
object and not on. the mover; on the attribute and not on the 
substance; on the organism and not on the organizer; on the 
product and not on the producer; on the visible creation and 
not on the Creator; on the thing operated upon and not the 
operator; on the instrument and not the performer; on the ob- 
ject of the thought and not the thought; on the pulsating brain 
and not on the thinking mind; on material progress and not on 
the intellectual entity that inaugurated and developed that ma- 
terial progression. The mind more readily and easily goes out 
to an object than to the invisible producer of that object. The 
worlds of matter are more apparent than the worlds of spirit. 
The minds of departed ages more clearly distinguished between 
mind and matter than the minds in this material age for the 
reason, that more attention and thought was given to an investi- 
gation of the nature and permanancy of the soul. The unusual 
speed with which this generation has been motoring into strange 
material regions has interfered with a proper consideration of 
the life man is heir to just on the other side of the grave. 
While men's minds were as close in range of investigating the soul 
many centuries ago, as are the minds of the men in this material 
age, yet less than five centuries ago our ancestors had no 
knowlege of the existence of the great American continent. 

Physical Science has Enlarged Our Knowledge of Material Worlds and the 
Laws of their Operation. 

They were ignorant of the size and shape of the earth. How 
the sun and stars could rise and set daily, was a mystery. Now 
we know the size and shape of the earth and its relations to 
the Sun and other planets. The mysterious phenomena and 
unaccountable inconsistencies in the movements of the celestial 
orbs, as they appeared five hundred years ago can, at this day, 
be easily explained. We know that the Sun is the center of 
the Solar System. We can now understand the changing re- 



71 

I — 

lations of Sun, Planets and Moons that bring about the day and 
the night, the seasons, the years, the eclipses, the transits and 
the visitations of comets. Natural scientists become so habitu- 
ated to tracing the single and relative movements of material 
bodies and the growth and development of material organisms 
from a microbe to the human body, that the material web be- 
comes so strong as to preclude the possibile existence of the soul 
and its escape from the mortal body. They even weigh the 
dead body immediately before and after death to discover the 
weight of a possible material soul that might have escaped from 
the body. All kinds of matter, even the thinest gas, has weight, 
and as all substances are material, if there is a soul it is material 
and must have weight. 

The Constitution and Permanency of the Soul Cannot be Disclosed by 

Physical Tests. 

The material measure, the laws of gravitation and every ap- 
pliance in testing the existence and nature of matter are applied 
in a search for the soul. These measures and tests being ap- 
plied in vain, the materialist declares there is no soul. Plato 
knew more about the soul than Edison, for Plato directed his 
attention and his reasoning to the entity that thinks, reasons and 
is conscious of itself, while Edison has directed his attention and 
reasoning to the material objects external to the mind. When 
Edison endeavors to make an introspection of his own soul, he 
converts it into an electric battery and finds himself at last in- 
vestigating the human brain. He reasons that as electricity is 
produced by the cell structure of the battery, so thought, reason, 
understanding, volition and consciousness are produced by the 
action of brain cells. The old methods of transportation, travel 
and transmissal of thought have been marvelously improved 
upon within the life of living men. While there has been pro- 
gress in the means and ways of production, transportation, travel 
and transmission of thought, there has been little or no advance- 
ment in the science of the soul. Is it not strange that after all 
that has been developed in physical science, the most advanced 
minds engaged in turning the forces of nature to the services of 
man, make egregious blunders and become entangled in irrecon- 
cilable inconsistencies when they undertake to explain away the 
separate existence of the soul of man and to make it noth- 
ing more than the material of the brain? Socrates or Plato 
knew more about the nature of the soul and the permanency 
of its existence than a Darwin or a Huxley. Discoveries 
in the material world may lead to astonishing advancement 
in transporting the traveler and the products of the earth with 



72 



amazing speed to all quarters of the earth, and may lead to 
establishing electric wire connections by which a man in Wall 
Street, New York, in the twinkling of an eye, can communicate 
his thoughts to the metroplis of any nation on the globe. Mater- 
ial discoveries have advanced so far, that a father sitting in his 
parlor in Chicago can clearly hear and distinguish the voice of 
his daughter from the library of her grandfather in New York 
City. Yet how can the discovery and utilization of the forces in 
nature for transporting the material products of the earth, or 
the improvement of the means of transmitting intelligence to 
distant parts of the earth, give us any light on the nature and 
permanency of the soul? Socrates on the streets of Athens 
studied the thinking, conscious soul within himself. Darwin and 
Huxley concentrated their minds on all forms and movements 
of nature, or what may be seen and observed in the material 
world. Hence we need not be disturbed or deceived by what 
may be said concerning the soul by that class of scientists who 
are constantly swimming upon and diving into the sea of ma- 
terial existence, that they may seek and search out physicial 
reasons for the existence of a material, perishable soul. While 
we may boast of our modern progress, in material development, 
yet the very fact of such progress, is indicative of spiritual 
retrogression, and why? Because too much emphasis has been 
given to the physical side of man. This undue emphasis has 
brought about alarming and erroneous views and theories of 
of man's true position in the universe in time and eternity. The 
world is experiencing a season of unrest. Struggling humanity 
has been so tossed on the stormy sea of material existence, and 
the compass of the soul has been so disturbed by materialistic 
teachings, until it has lost its true latitude and longitude in the 
universe of being. 

Having Been Lured Out on the Strange and Dreary Seas of Materialism by 
a False Philosophy, Men Begin to Recognize the Pilots they have Trusted. 

This wide spread unrest presages an awakening to the 
sublime truth that the entire man is not mere matter, but that 
man consists of a physical organism which is subject to disolu- 
tion, and a separate and distinct entity which we designate as 
the soul, which is not subject to disolution, but continues to live 
forever. The attention of men is now turning to the spiritual 
side of man. The counter current is increasing and human 
beings are coming to a recognition of the tide that bears them 
onward to the inspiring truth, that they really have souls which 
will live on when this earthly conflict is closed. The departure 
of the prevailing materialism in men's minds, will bring about an 
equilibrium of the disturbed elements, the soul will be restored 



73 



to the true position which it sustains in the universal order of 
creation, the cardinal points will be reinstated and the true 
course to be pursued in the voyage to immortal life, will be dis- 
closed. Man can never come to a realization of his true place 
on earth until he has come to a knowledge of the truth, that his 
body is organized matter and will be dissolved, and that his 
soul is a conscious, rational spirit which can never be dissolved 
by any force in the whole realm of nature. No science or 
philosophy can reconcile the discordant and contradictory ele- 
ments that grow out of the doctrine of the mortality of the soul. 
As it was necessary to discover that the Sun is the center around 
which the earth and all the planets revolve, in order to har- 
monize and understand the seeming inconsistencies in the course 
and movements of the celestial spheres, in erroneously assuming 
the earth as the center, so it becomes necessary to recognize the 
fundamental truth that the great central entity in man is the 
immortal soul around which all that is mortal in him revolves. 
From this central view point, we can see the consistency and 
harmony that reign in the relationships that exist between man 
and man, on earth, when taken in connection with the conditions 
that pertain to the life of immortality. Our comprehensive view 
will enable us to observe the leveling down of all inequalities 
and the permanent establishment of equity and justice in the 
fullness of time. All former discord will now become harmony 
which was not understood. When we become sincerely con- 
vinced that man's individuality and conscious soul shall endure 
while the years of eternity roll, and that man's life on earth bears 
an important relationship to his future life, then our burdens of 
this life will grow lighter, patience and fortitude will awaken in 
the soul, an angel of light will appear in death, and over the 
gloom of the grave, souls freed, from the body, will wing their 
unbounded flights. That same materialistic theory that logically 
leads to a denial of spirit apart from matter, not only deprives 
man of his immortal soul, but eliminates the supreme Intelli- 
gence from the universe and dethrones God. The same argu- 
ment that deprives man of a spiritual entity apart from matter, 
robs the material universe of that omnipotent intelligesce which 
the world recognizes as God. If I am unable to understand how 
my soul can exist apart from my body, how am I to understand 
how the invisible, infinite intelligence can exist independent of 
the worlds of matter? True we may not understand the "how" 
of existent beings, but we can know the "fact" of their existence. 
Is it not a revolt againt reason to assert, that, as we are 
unable to understand the "how" of existence, there- 
fore there is .no existence? the departed generations have 
entirely disappeared from the earth. The atoms that composed 



74 



their bodies again mingle in air, water and earth. The atoms 
are so small and so far scattered in the great domain of nature, 
that we can not tell just where a single atom may be located. 
We can not find a hair or a mere fragment of bone. Shall we 
say that our ancient ancestors never existed because we find no 
part of their remains on earth? If there be no mind, spirit or 
soul in us apart from matter, is it possible for us to know that 
there ever existed a Homer, a Socrates, a Plato, a Caesar or a 
Columbus? We have no living witness to tell us that any one 
of these men ever lived. If there be no such entity as spirit, as 
opposed to matter, how is it possible for the invisible, intangible 
beings, long since vanished, to have a place in the thinking 
minds of today? Do we deny the fact that these departed fore- 
fathers ever lived on earth, merely because we had no acquaint- 
ance with them in a material way? Shall we reject every fact 
that rests on mere belief growing out of the invisible evidence 
which has appeared to our minds? Shall we refuse to believe 
that there is a separate entity within this organism of flesh 
and bones, which thinks, reasons, understands, connects the 
past with the present and is conscious of its existence, merely 
because of the insurmountable difficulty of reasoning out and 
understanding "how" this entity is connected with the bodily 
organism, and the "manner" in which the bodily organs, under 
certain conditions and action, affect the reason, the understand- 
ing and the consciousness? 

Vital Truths are Discerned in Mysteries. 

As we can not know how God created the soul of man, so 
neither can we know how He imparted immortality to the soul, 
however firm may be our belief that God created us and gave to 
our souls a life which shall never die. Is not our present ex- 
istence on earth, far more mysterious than would be the per- 
petuation of this conscious mind through endless time? How 
does this conscious mind enter into the bodily organism? What 
is it in us by which we trace our conscious existence on earth, 
from old age back to childhood? Why does the old man retain 
most vividly in his conscious mind, his childhood life? What 
secret of transmitting thought, enables the aged man to pass 
over the scenes of eighty years and to trace his conscious ex- 
istence and individuality from the day he laughed a bright eyed 
boy to the day he tottered on the brink of the grave? May we 
not well conclude that the Creator who gave us this marvelous 
mind, has placed us on earth to undergo a probation fitting us 
for advancement to greater worlds? Let us but look at the dis- 



75 



tant worlds that have every appearance of being shaped and 
adapted for the abode of departed souls. For as God, by His 
power, has created us and given us the earth for our temporary 
abode, so He can also transfer our souls to other worlds. We 
now dwell on a planet ninety-three million miles from the sun. 

A View of Real Worlds Far Beyond the Earth. 

Retreating from the sun forty-eight million miles beyond 
the earth, we reach the planet Mars, a world very similar to the 
earth. On Mars we find many things to engage and interest a 
soul that has made its passage through the ways of earth. The 
days are about the same length, but instead of seeing one moon 
as on earth, we see two moons moving at great speed around the 
planet, and scarcely a night passes, that there is not moonlight. 
Not wishing to tarry on Mars to verify what the astronomers of 
earth have told us concerning that planet, we turn our eyes to 
other worlds beyond Mars. We are now brought to a nearer 
view of the giant planet, Jupiter, by far the largest planet within 
the solar system. To get a view of Jupiter our vision must pass 
through three hundred and forty two million miles of space be- 
yond Mars. As we look at Jupiter, we become aware of the 
wonderful evolution now in progress in that mighty planet. 
Every change that we see taking place on that monarch of plan- 
ets, bears the strongest evidence that a new home is being 
evolved, that will be most fittingly adapted for the activities and 
happiness of souls that have served their days of stewardship 
on earth. We discover that the surface of Jupiter has not yet 
cooled off, as has the surface of the earth and the surface of 
Mars. This master giant among planets, is still in a state of 
eruption, the volcanoes and surface disturbances being very 
great. Heated vapors and gases still sweep over its stormy sur- 
face. The heat is too intense to permit the vapors to condense 
into water. Dry land has not yet appeared and the waters have 
not separated into seas and oceans. But so great has been the 
progress of evolution in this remarkable planet, that the indica- 
tions are that it is destined to become a happy dwelling place 
for souls constituted as are our souls. The length of the days 
and the length of the years have been established, Although 
the distance around this grand orb is more than ten times the 
distance around the earth, yet while the earth rotates on its axis 
once, Jupiter rotates two and one-half times. While the sun 
in its daily course passes over one mile on earth it passes 
over twenty-five miles on Jupiter. Yet while Jupiter is passing 
through one mile of his orbit the earth passes through more 



76 



than two miles of its orbit. On the twenty-first of June, in the 
latitude of Chicago, while there we witness the rising of the sun 
and its radiant course as it passes through the blue vault, until 
the charms of a golden sunset meet our view, the same sun has 
given to Jupiter two mornings, two evenings — two days of sun- 
shine and one night. While a day on Jupiter is only two fifths 
the length of a day on earth, yet a year on Jupiter is as long as 
twelve years on earth. A Methusalah on earth would have only 
lived the same length of time as a man eighty years of age on 
Jupiter. On earth we have one moon to furnish us light during 
certain nights and parts of nights in each month. Jupiter pre- 
sents a striking departure in this respect. In Jupiter's nocturnal 
skies we see four large moons, making their circuits around the 
huge planet in vastly different periods of time. The inner 
moon, nearest to Jupiter makes its circuit in less than two days 
of time on earth. The second moon, being more distant from 
the planet, completes its circuit in less than four days; the third 
moon still farther away, performs its circuitous course in the sky 
in less than seven days, and the fourth large moon, being more 
than a million miles from Jupiter, passes through all of its phases 
from one full moon to the following full moon, in less than 
seventeen days. What a magnificent scene must Jupiter present 
as it rotates on its axis giving five hours day and five hours 
night! What must be the nightly scene as the four moons race 
through the blue sky at speeds so vastly different! How glorious 
must be the marvelous heavens as the four moons hurry through 
the hosts of stars! Do not the progressive changes, that are 
now taking place within the sphere of Jupiter, indicate that a 
most happy home is in course of prepartion to meet the con- 
ditions and environments that give to the soul of man a para- 
dise? If it has been possible for the great Father of all to place 
us on this earth to undergo all the experiences of this life, and 
to endow us with the capacities which we possess for happiness 
and immeasurable exploits of intellect, is it not reasonable that 
He can place us on Jupiter in time to come and thus enlarge the 
field of our knowledge and the sphene of our happiness? In 
our passage through etenity there can be no limit to the mans- 
ions which God has in store for us in His universe of worlds. 
Beyond Jupiter there are other worlds. Venturing out into space 
four hundred million miles beyond Jupiter, we come upon a 
most beautiful world in a state of preparation for the abode of 
souls that possess endowments, such as are found in man. We see 
this attractive planet encircled by a great luminous band far above 



77 



its surface. We also see nine moons moving like charriot racers 
to fill the night with gladsome scenes. We are taking but a hasty 
glance into the worlds that are to play their respective parts in 
the years of eternity. We do not stop at Saturn, but venturing 
nine hundred million miles farther into space, we are permitted 
to catch a glimpse of Uranus with its four moons, passing 
through evolutions that will in the future furnish new revela- 
tions and mansions of happiness to souls that have performed 
their parts in their earthly tenements. From Uranus we will 
make a leap of a billion miles farther from the sun and, dim in 
the tremendous distance, we see a dizzy orb. That orb is the 
planet Neptune, twenty-eight hundred million miles from the 
Sun. One year on Neptune is as long as one hundred and sixty 
five years on earth If Adam had been born on Neptune and 
should now be living, he would be only thirty-seven years old, 
according to the Neptune calendar. If a child should be born 
on Neptune, and another child born on earth at the same time, 
as time advanced, the child on Neptune would be only six months 
old, at the time the child on earth would be a man, eighty-two 
years of age. 

In Touch with a Marvelous Mind on Its Way to Make Known to the In- 
habitants of Earth, an Undiscovered World. 

While we are penetrating into space and marveling at the 
admirable worlds, we are permitted to look upon, let us bear in 
mind that the reason and understanding of man searched out 
the laws of planetary motion and fathomed the laws of gravita- 
tion to such a depth, as to reveal to us truths more wonderful 
than fiction, concerning the planets and satellites that have been 
engaging our attention. Let us withdraw our wondering minds 
from the planet, Neptune and give our attention to the mind 
that made it known to us. Opening the doors of departed years 
we pass through the entrances until we find ourselves in the 
city of Paris about that season of the year 1845 wherein the 
birth of our Savior is celebrated. We meet the great mathema- 
tician and astronomer, Le Verrier. We very much admire him 
as he reveals to us his masterly knowledge of the Sun and the 
Planets that revolve around it. We find him familiar with the 
laws of gravitation and planetary motion. He explains the in- 
fluence of the Sun on each planet and the influence of the 
planets on the sun and on each other. He describes the orbit 
of each planet and tells why the planet moves in its fixed orbit. 
He demonstrates to us that the earth would not move in the 
orbit in which it now moves, if the sun alone were the only at- 
tractive force acting upon the earth. He points to Venus, 
Mars, Jupiter and the other planets and shows how they exert 



78 



their magic power, in prevailing upon the earth to depart from 
the path in which the sun would have it move. He illustrates, 
by circles and elliptical curves, the drawing power of each planet 
in deflecting the earth from the orbital line in which the sun 
endeavors to hold it. He makes clear to us, that this law of gravi- 
tation, applies to each and all the other planets, as well as to the 
earth. He shows how the disturbances of any one planet in its 
course, are produced by the separate attractive force of each of the 
other planets. Each planet imparts to each of all the other planets, 
a clearly discernible virbration or marked disturbance, LeVerrier 
now points out to us Uranus, the most distant planet known to 
man. As he reveals to us his knowledge concerning Uranus, we 
seem to be listening to a spirit that has found its way to earth 
from that planet. He gives us the distance, the size, the weight, 
the orbit and the motion of that remarkable body. He shows 
us the orbit through which Uranus would pass around the sun, 
if the other planets would cease their persistant perturbation. 
He points out the distinctive movements of Uranus, which are 
produced by the separate attractions of Saturn, of Jupiter, of 
Mars, of the Earth, of Venus, of Mercury and of the Sun. After 
enumerating all these magnets that are affecting the route over 
which Uranus passed, our attention is directed to a peculiar 
tremor in the planet, which our astronomer assures us can not be 
produced by any or all the attractive forces which he has enumer- 
ated. After briefly announcing to us the results of portions of 
his investigations, LeVerrier bids us adieu, and resumes his 
silent search for the unknown wanderer of the Solar System. 
He feels the very pulse, as it were, of the separate planets and 
seeks the cause of the variation in the pulsations. Instead of 
going to the Paris Observatory to search the heavens with a 
telescope, to find the undiscovered planet that was exerting an 
influence on Uranus, not traceable to the Sun or to any of the 
other planets, he goes into a secluded room, and there enters 
into an analysis of all the forces that have a bearing upon the 
movement of Uranus. He devotes many months in making and 
verifying mathematical calculations. With a vast accumulation 
of planatary knowledge, gleaned out of the heavens by celebrat- 
ed astronomers, he pursues his application of the known in 
bringing to light the unknown. By the power of his reason 
and his understanding, he harmonizes the apparent conflicting 
elements, until he brings order out of chaos. In the silent hours 
of the night, with the light of no planet falling on the retina 
of his eye, his god-given intellect brings before him, as in 
a vision, the entire Solar Orbs in their unity of movement. 
The oject of his search is just within his grasp. God's thought, 



79 



expressed in the movements of the solar orbs, becomes imaged 
in the mind of LeVerrier. In the vision, which his laborious 
and faithful mathematical analysis has brought to him, he sees 
with all the certainty of mathematical demonstration, the very 
spot in the heavens where the disturber of Uranus is located. 
On the 18th day of September 1846, so certain is he of his in- 
tellectual triumph, that he writes a letter to Dr. Galle of the 
Berlin Observatory and in the letter says, "Direct your telescope 
to a point on the Ecliptic in the constellation, Aquarius, longi- 
tude 326 degrees and you will find within a degree of that place 
a new planet." On the 23rd of September 1846 Dr. Galle receiv- 
ed the letter. On that night the sky was remarkably clear and 
the stars presented a charming appearance. A chart of that 
part of the heavens, toward which Dr. Galle was directed to 
level his telescope, had recently been made, and engraven on 
that chart, was every star from the First Magnitude down to 
the Tenth Magnitude. With this chart in hand, Dr. Galle, filled 
with emotions, turns his telescope toward the constellation, 
Aquarius, and directs it to the very point described in LeVer- 
rier's letter. The stars, in the field of view of the telescope, are 
compared, one by one, with the stars engraved on the chart. 
The chart presents the identical stars which are now seen 
through the telescope. But, pause, there appears in the tele- 
scope, a bright star of the eighth magnitude, not found on the 
chart! Is it a star, or is it a planet? Ah, it must be a wanderer — 
a planet — for if it were a star, it would appear on the chart. 
Wait until tomorrow night. Again, Dr. Galle turns his telescope 
to the same field of view in the heavens. The question is 
answered. That orb has slightly changed its position among the 
stars, therefore it can not be a star. As it is a wanderer among 
the stars, it must be a planet. This was the most wonderful 
triumph that has ever been achieved in applying the laws of 
gravitation and planetary motion, in solving out, through mathe- 
matical analysis and calculation, without the aid of a telescope, 
the very point of location of an undiscovered planet. What 
mysterious power in man, enables him to reason out the very 
plan designed by the Creator in the works of his mighty Hand? 
What gift, in the mind of man, enables him to search out the 
marvelous harmony in God's vast creation? 

As we look about us in all creation, and penetrate through 
solar space, until our eyes are permitted to look upon that 
mysteries planet, Neptune, which taxed the foremost minds in 
astronomy for centuries to bring it to our view, we see in man 
something superior to anything else in the realms of nature. 
That superior something is the immortal soul. 



80 



"What a piece of work is man! how noble in reason! how 
infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admir- 
able! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a 
god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals!" Shall 
this crowning work of creation cease its thinking, conscious ex- 
istence, while all beheath it shall continue in time without a 
thought and without an emotion? 

"I have asked that dreadful question of the hills 

That look eternal; of the flowing streams 

That lucid flow ferever; of the stars, 

Amid whose fields of azure my raised spirit 

Hath trod in glory; all were dumb; but now, 

While I thus gaze upon thy living face, 

I feel the love that kindles through its beauty 

Can never wholly perish; we shall meet 

Again, Clemanthe!" 

The Mind Must Keep in View the Lights by which Faith in Immortality 

was Attained. 

God has bestowed upon man masterly powers of mind for 
searching out the hidden mysteries of the orbs above, and for 
unfolding the glory ot the heavens. In the astronomical watch 
towers of the earth are industrious and vigilant astronomers 
constantly keeping their eyes on the worlds above, that they 
may glean for us new revelations out of celestial realms, far 
away from earth. The effect of the arduous labors and masterly 
intellectual feats of the astronomer, has been to turn the atten- 
tion of men to the glorious works of God in the firmament above, 
and thus awaken greater love and veneration for the Creator 
and Ruler of the Universe of worlds we so much admire. God 
intended that man should use his powers of body and mind in 
exploring the realms of nature, and to draw therefrom know- 
ledge and wisdom, and come to a recognition and love of God 
in looking upon the matchless works of a Divine Hand. What 
a vast region still remains for the exploration of the human 
mind! While we are left to work out for ourselves, those things 
which God has designed for us to work out by the talents which 
He has bestowed upon us, yet in His goodness and mercy, He 
has made direct revelations to us which we could not discover 
by our unaided intellects. True scientific knowledge, gleaned 
from the kingdoms of nature by the God-given faculties of the 
human mind, furnishes us convincing evidence of the existence 
of the Lord of Creation and man's immortality. Yet so prone 
are we to evil, that our minds and hearts need a continual 
awakening to the light coming from God and to that complex, 



SI 



invinciple reasoning, quickened by an inner light, which leads us 
out of darkness into a clear and undoubting belief in immortal- 
ity. As the Sun must perpetually return, in its daily circuit, to 
give the light and heat, necessary to vitalize and preserve our 
physical organism, so the light of God and the processes of 
reasoning and inner light that opened to us immortality, must 
continually revolve through the consciousness of the soul, to 
vitalize and preserve unswerving faith in immortality. 

Habits of Right Living Are, in a Great Measure, Dependent on State Sup- 
ervision and the Co-operation of the Citizens. 

We need ministers of the Gospel, full of the knowledge of 
true science, to guard the people against the sophistries and 
misapplication of the truths of science, which give support to 
the pretensions of error. We need ministers of divinity, who 
are sincere in their faith; true observers of the commands of 
God; familiar with the fundamentals of all true science; , keen 
reasoners, in dispelling the delusions that enter into the prem- 
ises and conclusions of sophistry; followers in the footsteps of 
of the Nazarene; true lovers of God and man; firm believers in 
the immortality of the soul, and masterful teachers and preach- 
ers, in pointing out and making clear the ways of God to man, 
There is a demand for able ministers, whose voices may be 
heard calling men from the materialism, commercialism, atheism 
and agnosticiam of the day to the temple of God, where souls 
will come to realize that they are children of a heavenly Father, 
undergoing a probation on earth, to determine their worthiness, 
to enter into a life of eternal happiness. Instead of so many 
sermons giving undue emphasis to material progress and theatri- 
cal sensationalism, we are in need of sermons that are not 
superficial, but sermons that penetrate to the very sanctuaries 
of men's minds and hearts, revealing to them the duties which 
each man owes to himself, to his fellow man and to his God. 
Men of the world, who are worried and overwhelmed with the 
labors and cares that pertain to this life of mortality, are greatly 
in need of the inspirations that come to the soul in communion 
with God, and in contemplation of the untried scenes of eternity 
through which man's immortal spirit shall pass. In the silent 
moments, set apart for communing with the great Author of our 
being, and for contemplating the cycles of eternity, there steals 
upon us the realization, that the short time which we are re- 
quired to dwell in these mortal bodies in performing our duties 
and making sacrifices, is but a moment when compared to ever- 
lasting life. We need men of science and philosophy, whose 
minds and hearts recognize and feel the presence of the 



82 



Almighty, and are never separated from an insight and con- 
viction of life immortal, in all their searching investigations. 
With a belief in an all wise Ruler of the universe of worlds, and 
a conviction in the immortality of the soul, the man of science 
will be in possession of the grand pillars which support and 
give meaning to all that may be discovered in exploring nature's 
proud domain, and that may be disclosed in the intellectual 
world. In our educational institutions, we are in need of teach- 
ers and professors whose morals and intellectual attainments 
equip them for calling forth and putting into operation, the 
noblest endowments of the pupils under their charge — teachers 
who venerate and love the great Teacher of teachers and in all 
their instructions, realize that the souls under their guidance, 
are not only preparing themselves for gaining a subsistence and 
comforts in this world, but are on probation to work out in the 
body, the thoughts and deeds that pave the way to mansions 
beyond the valley of death. 

The State Owes to Its Citizens, Safeguards Against Disease, and Provis- 
ions for the Conservation of Health. 

Disease, suffering and premature death are, in a great meas- 
ure, the penalty of violating the laws of nature and the com- 
mands of God. Although we have long recognized the truth of 
the old adage that "an ounce of preventive is worth a pound of 
cure," yet we have, with impunity, disregarded the clearest 
dictates of reason and conscience, by trusting to the pound of 
cure. In our sickness, from which an ounce of preventive would 
have saved us, we call in the physician to prescribe a remedy, 
aud we dope ourselves with all manner of nostrums and drugs 
to escape from- the net in which we find ourselves entangled. 
By our ignorance and stupidity, we pay out great sums of money, 
and waste our substance in employing a great army of physi- 
cians and furnishing a market for expensive drugs that so prey 
upon our vital organs, as to render the cure worse than the dis- 
ease. We are now awakening to the great truth, that we are not 
so much in need of the remedies that are now prescribed to us, 
as we are in need of the preventives that forestall the disease 
and maladies. While the state has, in an elaborate way and at 
great expense to its citizens, provided for the instruction of its 
children, in certain branches of education, and has required cer- 
tain qualifications of the teachers, under whose charge the 
children are placed, yet as important as is the health of the 
child to the family, the community and the general welfare, the 
state has egregiously failed and neglected to provide protection 
to the health of the child. In the government of the state, there 



83 



is urgent need of a department of health, with sufficient scope 
and working force, to inquire into and safeguard the health of 
every inhabitant of the state. The men, selected to formulate 
and to carry into effect the health ordinances, should possess a 
high standard of qualification in their knowledge of the cause of 
diseases, and superior skill and ability in establishing the most 
favorable conditions for maintaining and restoring health to 
every person. The establishing of conditions favorable to health, 
and the inculcation of habits in harmony with the laws of health, 
will clear away the obstructions in the body that interfere with 
the free action of the soul, and in the place of dispondency and 
despair, will be good cheer and hope. The sun of immortality 
will appear more radiant, and grateful hearts will sing songs of 
joy for the blessings that have come from God, through the noble 
men that saved them from the ravages of disease and loathsome 
maladies. 

Equality of Compensation to Each Citizens for the Services Redered to 
Society, Requires Just and Equitable Laws, Impartially Administered, 

Our law makers have not yet succeeded in forming con- 
stitutions and laws which will give to each member of society, 
the just and equitable returns, for the services that he has ren- 
dered to society. The courts have not been able to mete out 
equal and exact justice to all men. Corporations have not yet 
been confined within their proper spheres. Graft and fraud 
have not been sufficiently traced down to their haunts and 
brought to the bar of justice. Many leeches have been taking 
the life blood from the honest citizens of the state without giv- 
ing anything in return. Honest toil has been robbed of its just 
earnings, and the idle and extravagant have been permitted to 
revel and feast on the fruits of industry and frugality. The 
vultures of society have been waiting and watching to get some- 
thing for nothing, and refuse to soil their hands or engage their 
minds in contributing to the welfare and good of society. These 
abnormal conditions have a primary canse. The minds and 
hearts of men and women have wandered away from God. A 
dismal indifference has settled over them like a cloud of dark- 
ness. The inspiration, that comes from an abiding belief in the 
immortality of the soul, has been supplanted by a greed and 
selfish pride, that breed despair and self destruction. The com- 
bined intellectual and physical powers of the citizens who form 
a state, if rightly directed and brought into harmonious 
co-operation, will give to all the citizens, collectively and 
individually, the highest degree of prosperity and hap- 
piness. There is an amazing loss of human energy which 
if properly applied, would rob poverty of its wretchedness, 



9A 



depopulate the prisons and insane asylums, turn swords into 
plowshares, convert ships of war into friendly transports of 
commerce, expend the money wasted on armies and navies in 
building good roads, erecting edifices of learning, establishing 
schools of health and founding temples of worship. The hours 
of physical labor and mental strain, during the six days of the 
week, would be shortened and the seventh day could be en- 
tirely given to elevating the soul to God and engaging in cheer- 
ful and healthful recreation. To accomplish these noble ends, 
men of the greatest minds and largest hearts of the nation, must 
work out the ways and methods by which these reforms may be 
brought about. A far reaching co-operation of all the minds of 
the state, must be inaugurated and judiciously applied, in feed- 
ing the hungry, clothing the naked, relieving the sick, comforting 
the unfortunate, turning idleness into healthful labor, effectively 
forestalling disease by the ounce of preventive, turning the foot- 
steps of the people to places of worship, where the soul can en- 
large in contemplation of God's marvelous creation and, in close 
communion with its Maker, repent for the wicked thoughts of 
the mind and the evil deeds done in the body, and feeling the 
gentle touch of the great Forgiver of sins, upon a sincere repent- 
ance, rejoice in heart felt thanksgiving for the abundant bless- 
ings bestowed by a loving Hand. The Creator has given to men 
such endowments of mind and body and compassion of heart, as 
to enable them to turn earth almost into a paradise, if all men 
would do unto others as they would have others to do unto 
them, and would humbly petition to the throne of grace for aid 
in all their endeavors. The signs of the times indicate that there 
is a great forward movement among the deep thinkers of the 
world, in approaching a greater unity of thought and purpose, 
through which society may be relieved of many of its ills and 
the welfare and happiness of the inhabitants of every nation, 
vastly promoted. 

The More Men Recognize the Brotherhood of Man and the Fatherhood of 
God, the Greater will be the Measure of Human Happiness. 

As the minds of men advance from wasting their energies 
in selfish designs and fruitless strife, over points of dispute, that 
have but little bearing on the general advancement of the morals 
and conduct of men, to the fundamental principles upon which 
the happiness of the human family depends, there comes a cur- 
rent of feeling, broad and deep, which powerfully affects the 
happiness of human beings and in that current, we recognize the 
brotherhood of man, which duly appreciated, causes the hearts of 
men to beat more in unison. Divested of the selfish motive that 



85 



deprive the soul of its vastly larger sphere of delightful activit- 
ies, the minds of men meet in calm deliberation, and come to a 
common agreement of the means and measures that will be 
most conductive to the welfare and happiness of every citizen 
in the state. Under the clear sky of justice, and in the gentle 
domain of mercy, great and good minds acquire harmony of 
thought, and move to harmony of action. This progressive 
movement irresistibly pressess onward to the two grand pillars 
of truth, that give to this life its profound significance and the 
wonderful possibilities within the reach of the human soul. 
Need we say that these two grand pillars, that give support to 
the proudest flights of the human intellect, and the most consol- 
ing emotions of the human heart — are God and man's immortal 
soul? From a due consideration of God and the relations of 
the immortal soul to Him, men will come to know, as if by 
inspiration, their duties to their fellow men and to their God. 
As we become more engrossed in the thought and purpose of 
living better lives and devoting our best talents and energies for 
the advancement and well being of our fellowmen, we grow in 
favor with God and we feel our immortality stir within us. Our 
good thoughts and our good lives, awaken in our fellow beings 
trains of thought, that lead out into the pathways of health, the 
elevated plains of morality, rational ideals of God and a vivid 
conviction of immortality. While we have been following those 
pleasant channels of thought and emotion, by which we have 
come to a clear recognition of our Creator and a conscious con- 
viction of the immortal image He has breathed into our souls, 
we pause at the dungeon of the atheist. In vain does he en- 
deavor to disprove the existence of God. Egregiously does he 
fail to disprove the immortality of the soul. Thus do we rest 
secure in God who brought us into this life and our faith in 
immortality remains as unshaken as the pillars of truth. 

The Converging of the Diversity of Existences into the Reasoning, Intuitive 
Mind, Reveals in Consciousness, GOD, and His Image, the 
IMMORTAL SOUL. 

There is that within us which we call consciousness. Within 
this consciousness, marvelous soul-action takes place, which the 
eye can not see. In the last moments of life on earth, we are 
not permitted to know what passes through the consciousness of 
the departing soul. In this life we know the revelations that 
come to us in the domain of consciousness on this side of the 
valley of death. In the procession of existences that enter upon 
and traverse the field of consciousness, we distinguish between 
the passing phenomena and the consciousness itself. We see the 



86 



fleeting phenomena of nature and yet we realize the enduring 
essence which gives to the soul its consciousness. As we retire 
to sleep, before suspending the conscious operations of the 
soul, we are certain that the night will not obliterate the immor- 
tal soul that daily awakens to the same conscious existence. 
While consciousness can be suspended, it can never be severed 
from the soul. Sleep does not sweep away that eternal fountain 
from which the same consciousness awakens in the morning 
that retires in the evening. The soul does not lose its identity 
and its ever recurring consciousness, though it passes through 
thousands of nights of sleep. Eye hath not seen, ear hath not 
heard, nor hath the mind of man fully grasped the significance, 
of the innumerable details and combination of essentials that 
form the fleets that sweep over consciousness. We are con- 
scious of our very existence and the myriads of beings that unite 
to give existence to the entire human family. We are conscious 
of the earth on which we live, and the marvelous solar system of 
which it forms a part. We are conscious of human life, from the 
the cradle to the grave. We are conscious of the complexity of 
earthly existences, whether animate or inanimate, whether classi- 
fied into organic or inorganic kindoms, to make up the world in 
which we live. We are conscious of the invisible laws and 
forces that hold in tact and preserve this world, a sphere, in its 
mysterious speed through space. We are conscious of time and 
space, the finite and the infinite, existences that cease and ex- 
istences that never cease. We are conscious of reason — under- 
standing — will, and all that enter into the complete human 
soul. We are conscious of an Intelligence and Power that ex- 
isted from eternity and keeps in motion the worlds and systems 
of the universe. In the very sanctuaries of our souls, we are 
conscious of the presence of the all knowing God, and that only 
a soul which is immortal, can become conscious of God. Conscious 
of our immortality, we are inspired to rise higher and higher 
into the regions of the GOOD, the TRUE and the BEAUTIFUL. 
In our ascending flight we become conscious of the goodness 
and mercy of an all wise Creator, and the emotions of our hearts 
find expression in songs of praise and thanksgiving to the great 
Giver of all we are and all we possess. The white-winged angels 
hover over us. We hear the music of the spheres and in 
the sweet strains we catch the glad refrain "Souls from earth 
are joining the heavenly hosts" and from sphere to sphere we 
hear echos of the inspiring Anthem, IMMORTALITY. 



87 



" 'Twere heaven indeed, 
Through trackless fields to soar, 

On Nature's charms to feed, 
And Nature's own great God adore. 

O, Thou to whom in ancient tune, 
The lyre of prophet-bards was strung — ■ 

To Thee at last in every clime, 
Shall temples rise, and praise be sung." 



The soul that feeds on love, patience, courage, constant en- 
deavor, ceaseless development in higher ideals, unyielding sacri- 
fice in defense of truth, unshaken confidence in God, sincere 
prayer, firm and reliant trust in the great Searcher of hearts 
and a clear conviction of unending life, when the labors and 
ordeals of earth are over, will be prepared in the closing scenes 
of the sun-set of this life to exclaim: 

"Who, would live alway, away from his God? 

Away from yon heaven, that blissful abode, 

Where the rivers of pleasure flow o'er the bright plains, 

And the noon-tide of glory eternally reigns; 

Where the saints of all ages in harmony meet, 

Their Savior and brethren transported to greet: 

While the anthems of rapture unceasingly roll, 

And the smile of the Lord is the feast of the Soul? 

That heavenly music! What is it I hear? 
The notes of the harpers ring sweet on my ear, 
And I see soft unfolding those petals of gold; 
The King all arrayed in his beauty behold! 
Oh, give me — oh, give me the wings of a dove! 
Let me hasten my flight to those mansions above; 
Ay, 'tis now that my soul on swift pinions may soar, 
And in ecstasy bid earth adieu ever more." 



AUG 7 1913 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS # 

0 028 310 083 2 



